2008-09 NBA Team Preview – Washington Wizards
2008 Record: 43-39
Division Finish: 2nd – Southeast
2008 Playoffs: Lost, 4-2, to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference First Round
Head Coach: Eddie Jordan
Season: Going into sixth season
Record At Washington: 194-214
Career Record: 229-278
Offseason Acquisitions:
Signed Dee Brown, G, 14.7 ppg., 3.8 apg – Signed from Turkey
Signed Juan Dixon, G, 5.0 gpp, 1.4 rpg. – Signed from Detroit
Signed DerMarr Johnson, G-F, 3.4 ppg, 0.2, rpg – Signed from San Antonio
Signed Linton Johnson, F, 2.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg – Signed from Phoenix
Offseason Transactions:
Re-signed guard Gilbert Arenas.
Re-signed forward Antawn Jamison.
Traded the draft rights to forward Bill Walker to the Boston Celtics for cash.
Offseason Losses:
Roger Mason, G, 9.1 ppg., 1.7, apg, Signed with San Antonio
Rookies:
JaVale McGee, C, 7-0, 14.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, Nevada
The Skinny:
With the two main pieces of their puzzle in place for what looks like the next four years, the Washington Wizards have the potential to make a serrious run in the Eastern Conference. If the Wizards can get some solid play from their front court, particularly the center position, they could find themselves in the NBA Finals.
Next year.
On a list of the top shooting guards in the Association, Gilbert Arenas’ name has to be in the top five, probably top three. Prior to the 2007-08 season, he averaged at 25 points per game and has a career average of over 22 ppg.
Last year was virtually a wash for Arenas as he only played in 13 regular season game because of a knee injury. Even when he tried to come back he was not 100 percent and he pulled himself off the court right before game four of the opening round of the playoffs.
I am impressed with him in that he didn’t demand to be put back into the starting line-up as soon as he was cleared to play. Contrary to what some stars might do, Arenas did not want to disrupt the chemistry of the starting five. A lot of other guys would have demanded to be put in the line-up.
Arenas was almost not back in a Wizards’ uniform this season. He had a five-year offer from the Golden State Warriors that was valued at over $100 million dollars. He ended up signing with the Wizards for $111 million over six years. I’m glad to see Washington ponyed up the extra two mill a year to keep their favorite player on board.
However, it’s not all wine and roses for the Wizards and Arenas. He underwent a third surgery on his knee last month and is expected to be out for at least the first month of the season. It’s hard to say if he reaches 100 percent this season. It may be another year before Arenas is at the level he was in 2006-07.
One of the conditions of Arenas re-signing with the Wizards was that they had to sign forward Antawn Jamison as well. Wanting to keep Arenas, as well as their top scorer from last season, the Wizards did bring Jamison back for his 10th NBA season. He signed a four-year, $50 million dollar deal.
But just like Arenas, Jamison is injured during the preseason. He suffered a right knee contusion during the team’s first preseason game and is expected to miss all of the preseason. Likely this is more of a precautionary move by the team to have Jamison healthy for the start of the regular season since they know they are going to be without Arenas. Jamison’s timing and game conditioning may suffer a little, bit but he should be at 100 percent – barring any other set backs – when Arenas returns.
The center position has been one of the top positions that have been a problem for the Wizards. Things didn’t get any better for the team when center Brendan Haywood announced he would go under the knife to repair his right wrist and that will keep him out from four to six months. This is a big blow to the Wizards as Haywood averaged 10.6 ppg and 7.2 rebounds per game last season.
Some good news did come Washington’s way as center Etan Thomas made his return to the team. Thomas missed all of last season after undergoing open heart surgery. During the 2006-07 campaign he averaged 6.1 ppg. and 5.8 rpg. in 19.2 minutes a night. Also trying to fill the void left by Haywood is rookie JaVale McGee. The 7-foot center from Nevada averaged 14.1 ppg. and 7.3 rpg. his sophomore year with the Wolfpack. He’s the son of former NBA player George Montgomery and WNBA player Pamela McGee. He is the first son of a WNBA player to every play in the NBA.
The other hole in the Wizards’ roster is at the point guard position. Now in his 11th season, Antonio Daniels isn’t a true point guard and isn’t getting any younger. The team did pick up Dee Brown during the offseason. Instead of trying to make the Utah Jazz roster last year – where he would have been the understudy to Darren Williams – Brown opted to play in Turkey last year. Brown as the athleticism to be a point guard, but I’m not sure he’s got the head for it in the NBA. It’s one thing to get it done in college 35 some times a year, but 90 percent of the time his athletic ability was able to make up for any knowledge shortcomings.
Prediction:
Similar to the Orlando Magic, the Washington Wizards are a year or two away from making a serious run in the playoffs. I can see them having a similar record and finishing second to the Magic in the pitiful Southeast Conference. After Orlando and Washington the division is pretty bad.
One player not mentioned above was DeShawn Stevenson. He did a pretty good job filling in for Arenas last year, scoring 11.2 ppg. and handing out 3.1 apg. They’re going to need to him to step that up a bit during the first part of the season when Arenas is out and he’ll get considerable playing time throughout the season until Arenas gets back to 100 percent.
Another guy that wasn’t mentioned and gets overlooked a lot with Arenas and Jamison on the roster is Caron Butler. I always thought Miami got a steal on Butler when he slid to them at No. 10 in the 2002 NBA draft. Last year he averaged a career-best 20.3 ppg. – mostly notably because of the absence of Arenas – to go along with 6.7 rpg and 4.9 apg.
Between a healthy Arenas, Jamison and Butler you’ve got a great nucleus to work with. Two years ago the trio was the highest scoring three in the NBA. As good as those three players are you can almost get away with not having a great point guard, just someone who can get the ball down the floor and not make mistakes, which is what you’re going to get in Daniels.
However, with a number of good big men in the league, Washington will only go as far as its center plays. With Haywood out for four-to-six months, and not being beyond average to start with, the Wizards are going to struggle. Thomas was a back up before his heart surgery and who knows how much better he’ll get and I’m not really sold on McGee.
I think Washington will make the playoffs without much problem since most the East is weak, but they’ll get bounced in the first round again. Their downside is they’ve got just too many people missing significant time to build into a real threat. If Arenas and Haywood come back 100 percent by the end of the year they have a shot, but I think there are at least four teams better than them. Maybe next year.