FIO Preview: Washington Wizards

2008-2009 Washington Wizards season preview and fantasy impact, courtesy of Fantasy Insider Online. Read the team preview here in the Yard, and then visit the FIO link for the rest. - Zach Harper Last Season Recap: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly For the second straight year, the Washington Wizards were unable to put their three stars on the court at the same time for the entire season. After Caron Butler missed nearly 20 games the previous year and Gilbert Arenas battled injuries toward the end of the season, the Wizards were dealt a huge blow to their chances of taking the next step as an organization just eight games into the regular season. Arenas had knee surgery, which caused him to miss the next three months, and the Wizards went into band-aid mode. They did patch-work to fill up the hole left by Agent Zero and ended up making the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Players like Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison made up for the star quality that Arenas left behind, and players like Roger Mason and Antonio Daniels played inspired basketball to fill in the point guard duties. The undermanned Wizards lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Cavaliers in six games. Caron Butler took a huge leap forward into the upper echelon of small forwards in this league. He made the All-Star team in the East for the second straight season and finished fourth in the NBA in steals per game. Antawn Jamison also made the All-Star team by leading his team in scoring with 21.4 points per game. The Wizards played inspired ball without Arenas thanks to role players like Antonio Daniels, Roger Mason, and Andray Blatche stepping up. Daniels and Mason combined to average 17.5 points, 6.5 assists, and only 2.2 turnovers per game. Blatche played in all 82 games and was a presence in the middle, blocking 114 shots in just 20 minutes per game. The Wizards were resilient for most of the season and were one of three teams in the NBA to make the playoffs despite having a negative team-scoring margin for the season. The problem for the Wizards last season was the huge loss of Gilbert Arenas, just eight games into the year. Washington already didn't have a terribly deep backcourt and had to rely on courageous efforts by Antonio Daniels and Roger Mason to maintain some consistency running the show. Without Arenas and his scoring prowess, Butler and Jamison had to shoulder the load. Caron Butler broke down and only played two games in February while Jamison tried to keep the ship from sinking. He had his worst shooting month of the season then and wasn't able to keep them from losing eight straight games during that time. By the time the playoffs came around, the Wizards were trying to work Gilbert Arenas into the rotation and beat a LeBron James team hell-bent on taking back the East. They were able to muster just 92 points per game in that series before being knocked out in Game 6 by LeBron James' 27-point, 13-rebound, 13-assist performance. 2008 Draft Impact (Below Average) The Wizards selected JaVale McGee out of Nevada with the 18th pick and plan to bring him along slowly as their center of the future. McGee is a big guy with long arms and has an instinctive ability to score in the post. As he fills out from the 237 pounds that he is now by bulking up, he could become a real problem for opposing big men in the paint. He can also step out and hit mid-range jumpers. His greatest advantage will be on the defensive glass with his long arms. He can reach over just about everybody and tip the rebounds away. He won't see much time in the NBA this year, thanks to the plethora of big men that Washington currently employs. But if they suffer a few injuries along the way, he could be a nice backup at the center position. He's three years away from being a permanent fixture in Eddie Jordan's rotation. Off-Season Impact Moves The Wizards sank nearly $150 million into keeping Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison around for the next four (Jamison) to six (Arenas) years. The Jamison re-signing was a given because there weren't any teams that could really pay him and he's had great success for the Wizards. He's a fantastic scorer around the basket and a player who can stretch the defense with his three-point range. In keeping Gilbert Arenas, they kept the second best blogging point guard on the internet (Baron Davis is way more entertaining and that isn't just because this is on Yardbarker). Agent Zero has been more show than substance during his tenure in our nation's capital and that's saying a lot with what he's done on the court. It seemed worrisome that the Wizards and Abe Polin would just hand Arenas $111 million even though he had two knee surgeries in the past year before the signing. Now with his getting a third surgery in September and missing at least the first month of the regular season, this signing looks like more trouble than good, at least in the short-term. Bringing back Arenas was a business decision first and a basketball decision in a close second. That isn't to say that Arenas can't lead this team to the Eastern Conference Finals and beyond, but now they're virtually stuck with their roster because they no longer have any cap flexibility. They also let Roger Mason leave and sign with the Spurs. At the time, it seemed like it would have been foolish to keep him around with Arenas and Daniels already on the roster. Looking at it with 20-20 hindsight, it's obvious they should have left him on the team. Preview for the 2008-2009 Season Team MVP: Caron Butler, SF - If I believed that Gilbert Arenas could play more than 60 games this season, he would probably be my pick for Team MVP. However, with his absence, Caron Butler immediately emerges as the player most important to the Wizards' success. Butler has to be an efficient, high-volume scorer like last season and still be a disruptive force on defense. If he doesn't play like an All-Star, this team may struggle to make the playoffs. Breakout Player: Oleksiy Pecherov, PF / Nick Young, SG - I simply couldn't choose between these two guys because I think they both have really good years ahead of them. Pecherov is a versatile big man who can give the Wizards somewhat of a scoring presence in the post, which they lack with Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas on the floor. Pecherov's biggest weakness will be his ability to play defense without getting into foul trouble. If he can stay on the floor, he's too talented and plays too well alongside Andray Blatche to not make a positive difference. With Nick Young, he showed his raw ability to score in March of last season. He averaged 10.6 points in 18.6 minutes per game during the month. Young is a really good shooter from outside and made 40 of his 100 threes last season. He isn't going to win the starting shooting guard position anytime soon, but with as poorly as DeShawn Stevenson shot last season, the Wizards will need scoring off the bench. Young will provide that for them and even make a few highlight reels. Bust Player: DeShawn Stevenson, SG - For someone who once dubbed himself "Mr. 50%" because of some self-proclaimed shooting prowess, DeShawn Stevenson sure did shoot a low percentage last season. He dropped below 40% (38.6% to be exact) from the field and was terribly inconsistent from month to month. In his first year with the Wizards, Stevenson really benefited from the attention that Gilbert Arenas drew on the perimeter. Without Gil on the floor, DeShawn isn't able to get the easy looks he once had. Playoff Contender or Pretender? With Gilbert Arenas hurt for the next couple of months, it's hard to see this team as any kind of contender. They fought hard last season without Agent Zero and were able to maintain an above-.500 record for most of the season. With the Eastern Conference improved this season, it's hard to imagine this team going through that same kind of loss again and keeping their winning ways. Eddie Jordan benefited from Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison stepping into the realm of superstardom last season. But will they be able to give the same type of performance this year? Luckily, they may not have to get through this loss for very long. As of right now, Arenas is still just out until sometime in December. If he can rehabilitate his knee and come back at close to 100%, the Wizards will morph into a completely different ball club. Say what you will about Arenas and his affinity for taking tough, dramatic shots, but he's still one of the deadliest scorers in this league. If he can get healthy relatively early into this season, the Wizards instantly become a Top 5 team in the East again. They have the depth inside and the talent at the wing positions to hang with anybody. They just need their star to be there for those special moments.