The Washington Wizards, fresh off of their first playoff trip in many moons, return to action tonight when the team travels to Toronto and tips off against the Raptors at 7:00 p.m.
The Wiz had quite the offseason. They lost Larry Hughes, Juan Dixon and DCist fave Steve Blake in free agency and traded star-crossed former No. 1 pick Kwame Brown to the LA Lakers for Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins. Free agents Antonio Daniels and Calvin Booth were brought into the fold. Second Round draft pick Andray Blatche was shot in the chest during an apparent car jacking in Alexandria, although he is now recovering nicely. And lastly, former GM Michael Jordan went on 60 Minutes explaining how he felt used by the Wizards during his tenure in the nation’s capital. Mike, we’re sure we speak for everyone when we say the feeling is mutual. We’re not bitter that Pau Gasol could be patrolling the paint in Washington right now. No, not bitter at all.
So does all of that player movement get us back to the playoffs this year? We think so. The moves made by GM Ernie Grunfeld might not have been popular at the time, but the team has more depth and better talent going into this season than they did last year. The new roster will give head coach Eddie Jordan plenty of flexibility with his lineups. He had 6’11” Jared Jeffries playing shooting guard at times during the pre-season, so this could get good. However, the team has some questions going into the oh-five slash oh-six campaign. We take a look at the five big issues facing the team this season after the jump.
