The New Look Washington Wizards

My favorite team in the world, the Washington Wizards, recently blew up the core of their team to make way for a new start and new era.

Out is one of my favorite players, Antawn Jamison, the captain and leader of a franchise who made the Wizards come back to respectability after being mired in the NBA doldrums for untold decades. He is now going to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a chance to play for a championship.

Caron Butler, former Heat and Lakers player, and third option to captain Jamison and former franchise face and non-stop prankster Gilbert Arenas, is now with the Dallas Mavericks. Butler, known for his toughness and going strong to the basket with bull-charging drives and mezmerizing dribbling skills, is now having his chance to play on the NBA radar again.

Then there is Gilbert Arenas, who was given a $111 million contract two seasons ago who was busted on gun charges after pulling an ill-fouled prank on a fellow teammate, Javaris Crittenton. Both players are suspended for the rest of this season, and Arenas is in danger of losing his contract and possibly his career.

So General Manager Ernie Grunfeld knew it was time for a change. In sports, Grunfeld is a man that I like and respect. He was the man who brought Antawn Jamison to our talent-depleted franchise to help us move back into the playoffs. It was he who locked in Jamison and got Butler to make a trio of scorers. They made it to the playoffs from 2004-2008 and the city was loving basketball again (before that, Marylanders enjoyed rooting for the Terps for DC fans loved the Georgetown Hoyas). Grunfeld is known for bringing in players who can contribute immediately, without spending time on draft picks who take years to develop.

But he also knew it was time to a put a halt to proceedings when the whole gun scandal went down with Mr. Arenas. Gilbert, "Agent Zero" as he is called, is an all-star caliber player who puts up points and can bring fans to the seats. Yet, his arrogance and lack of prudence for his actions plus consequences forced me to re-think about his importance to the team. He may be back, and I hope he learned his lesson, move on, and focus on basketball as a mature man.

So, we bring in through trades players like Josh Howard, defensive specialist and former all-star, Al Thornton, all-around decent player with loads of talent, Quinton Ross, a journeyman player, and James Singleton, the tough man, and we got a motley bunch.

These were four players that matched the talents of Caron Butler and former captain Jamison. You would think that fans would just sit back and let the season continue to go downhill, as Grunfeld said that the previous group of players were "stale."

Yet our team has won two straight games in a row! Now a reader would think, "hold up Mark, its just two wins buddy, they are only 19-33."

But hey, if they continue to work hard and put their talents together with the remaining talent on the team, we could make some noise for the near future.

So I continue to be a long-suffering fan of the Wizards. Its easy to be a fan of the Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs, winning is part of your formula. Yet for the Zards, its a matter of patience and building, or sometimes, rebuilding a formula for a winning attitude. For me, I love these kind of re-building franchises. I love watching the final product (unless your a LA Clippers fan).

Go Wizards!