Shaq or no Shaq, the Wizards fell once again to the Miami Heat on Saturday and with it brought the end of their season. We could pull a Tony Kornheiser and run around screaming “Remember the Caps?” or listen to Mike Wise when he says that a “bright future” doesn’t always turn out the way you envisioned it. We could do that, but we’re not going to.

Instead let’s focus on what the Wiz need to do this offseason in order to keep the momentum they built up this year;

1) Resign Larry Hughes – Hughes faded a bit in the playoffs but when helathy, he played at an All Star level this year. He and Gilbert Arenas give the Wiz one of the top backcourts in the league. Hughes is an unrestricted free agent and will generate significant interest throughout the league but has indicated that he wants to stay in DC. Expect him to get a nice raise from the “paltry” $5.4 million he was making this year.

2) Deal with Kwame Brown – Team sentiment towards bringing him back after the injury to Etan Thomas may have saved Brown’s bacon in D.C. but don’t count on it. Many think Brown is a goner. The big question is what can GM Ernie Grunfeld get in return for him? It was painfully apparent in the Heat series that the Wiz need some help down low.

3) Retool the roster – Other free agents that might not be back include Anthony Peeler, Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, Michael Ruffin and Laron Profit. We would order the priorities here as Ruffin, Blake, Dixon, Peeler and the Profit. Ruffin is a must for bench help down low. He is ideal for this team because of his defensive and rebounding prowess and he doesn’t need shots on offense, freeing up attempts for the Big Three. Dixon is good but replaceable(especially if Jarvis Hayes ever gets healthy); same for Blake (although DCist wants to go on record saying we love us some Steve Blake), but this team needs a good back up PG that is familiar with coach Eddie Jordan’s complicated offense. Peeler was injured frequently this year and that doesn’t figure to end next year. Profit is a 12th man, nothing more.

There are also a number of free agents from other teams that may want to sign with Washington after their surprising year. The Wizards will not have a first round pick in the NBA Draft this year due to past moves but that doesn’t mean they team won’t be active come draft time. Dcist will of course keep you abreast of all the Wizards move this offseason since the only thing we love more than NBA basketball is the NBA offseason.