By: David Kay
The Sports Bank’s off-season breakdowns continue with a look at what the Washington Wizards need to do to begin their re-building process.
’09-’10 Season in Review:
How is this for a timeline of the past season in the district: Get off to an awful start to the season, have your star player “jokingly” point a loaded gun at a teammate in the locker room over a gambling debt, trade the nucleus of your team for ten cents on the dollar, and end the season with a roster of players who probably couldn’t win the NBDL Championship. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009-2010 Washington Wizards!
2010-11 Projected Depth Chart:
C: Javale McGee
PF: Andray Blatche
SF: Al Thornton/^Quinton Ross
SG: #Randy Foye/Nick Young
PG: Gilbert Arenas
Free Agents:
SF Josh Howard (TO)
C Fabricio Oberto (UFA)
G/F Mike Miller (UFA)
PG Shaun Livingston (UFA)
PG Earl Boykins (UFA)
PG Javaris Crittenton (UFA)
PF James Singleton (UFA)
G/F Cartier Martin (UFA)
G Cedric Jackson (UFA)
#G Randy Foye (QO)
^SF Quinton Ross (PO)
’10-’11 Team Salary: approximately $33.9 million
’10-’11 Expected League Salary Cap: $56.1 million
Draft Picks:
#5 (tentatively)
#30
#35
Off-Season Needs:
1. A metal detector outside the locker room- Seriously… wouldn’t a metal detector have saved the Wizards from a massive mess?
2. Point Guard- You never know what you are going to get from Agent Zero. Health issues and the “incident” last season have limited Arenas to 47 games played during the past three seasons. He is not going away anytime soon either since he is on the books for around $20 million per year for the next four seasons. Still, the Wiz need to find a solid insurance policy in case Arenas is in the line-up or someone who can play minutes at the point while possibly shifting Arenas to the two.
3. Size- In trading veterans Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood, the Wizards were left with a big hole to fill inside. JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche are the only two post players under contract for next season. McGee made the most of his minutes late in the season, but is still a long way from being a franchise center. Blatche has proven he can be a big time scorer but is still an enigma in other areas of his game. With a likely top five pick, the Wizards should grab one of the top post players in the draft but will need to bring in more help, preferably a veteran who can crash the boards and help mentor these young big men.
4. Wing Help- Assuming Josh Howard’s player option is not picked up this off-season, the Wizards will be losing two experienced wing players in Howard and Mike Miller. Randy Foye and Al Thornton have not lived up to their lottery expectations so the district needs to find some punch at the two and three. With plenty of cap space, the Wiz should be able to make a run at one of the top free agent swing players, but will any of them want to come to a disoriented franchise that is beginning the re-building process?
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