The new 'Jordannaires'

Eddie replaces Michael as youthful Wizards get fresh start

John Hollinger, SI.com

Wizards at a Glance Head coach: Eddie Jordan 2002-03: 37-45 2002-03 Stats Key Additions SF Jarvis Hayes (draft) PG Gilbert Arenas (Warriors) PG Chris Whitney (Magic) Key Losses SF Michael Jordan (retired) PG Tyronn Lue (Magic) SF Bryon Russell (free agent) PF Charles Oakley (free agent) Projected Lineup Starters Reserves PG  G. Arenas L. Hughes SG  J. Stackhouse J. Dixon SF  J. Jeffries J. Hayes PF  C. Laettner K. Brown C  B. Haywood J. White

The Washington Wizards are returning to obscurity, and that may not be such a bad thing.

After a season in which the hoopla over Michael Jordan's impending retirement obscured team-wide dissension with the living legend, the Wizards can get back to just trying to win basketball games. And while Jordan won't be around to throw in 20 a game anymore, the Wizards have to feel good about their offseason. They were able to reel in a rising star in Gilbert Arenas, who won the NBA's Most Improved Award last year, and is still just 21. He'll be paired in the backcourt with veteran point machine Jerry Stackhouse, and that's where the bulk of Washington's offense will come from.

The Wizards also cleaned house upstairs. As the general manager, Jordan opened a huge rift in the organization and was abruptly sent packing after the season by owner Abe Pollin, who replaced Jordan with Ernie Grunfeld. Meanwhile, Jordan's hand-picked yes-man Doug Collins also got the ax, and the Wizards imported Nets assistant Eddie Jordan to run the team. The new Jordan has one of the league's youngest rosters and promising players at nearly every position.

Washington also welcomes the return of Chris Whitney to the backcourt, and the team will fill in Jordan's spot with two guys half his age. Rookie Jarvis Hayes combines with Whitney to provide the deep shooting that was missing a year ago, while 2002 lottery pick Jared Jeffries returns from a knee injury to compete with Hayes for the job.

Depth. The Wizards are at least two deep at every position, continuing a trend of the past two seasons. They would benefit greatly from a two-for-one or three-for-one trade to bring in a more imposing frontcourt scorer, but that kind of maneuver is much easier said than done in a league where size has such a premium. Instead, the Wizards will hope for strength in numbers.

And they certainly can come at teams in waves. Washington's second unit of Larry Hughes, Juan Dixon, Hayes, Kwame Brown and Jahidi White is as solid as any in the league. Behind them are players like Whitney and Etan Thomas who can also make a major contribution, especially if Thomas can stay healthy for more than a week at a time.

Washington's wealth of big men is especially notable. Once the 7-foot Brendan Haywood checks out, the Wizards still can turn to White, who, in terms of muscle, is probably the biggest dude in the league besides Shaq, and Thomas, who is undersized but athletic and tough to keep off the glass. Kwame Brown can also play center, and his shot-blocking skill in some ways makes him better suited to that position.

But the focal of the second unit is Hughes, who started at the point for much of last season. His minutes might be limited playing behind Stackhouse and Arenas, but he can play both guard spots and is good enough to start on most teams. He could play a Vinnie Johnson-like role for one of the league's top backcourts.

Post scoring. The Wizards had the most guard-oriented offense in the league last season and will again this year. The reason is that, despite their hordes of big bodies, they don't have single big man capable of creating offense by himself.

The best hope for a post presence is Haywood, who has the size and athleticism to get work done down low. But he has terrible hands, which makes it difficult to feed him an entry pass, and once he gets it he has trouble dribbling into position for a shot. At power forward, Christian Laettner hasn't scored out of a post-up since the first Bush administration. He gets his offense on mid-range jumpers after running pick-and-rolls, which he'll be doing plenty in tandem with Arenas. White and Thomas are bangers who get their points on putbacks, and they rarely score further than six inches from the rim.

The one hope for some post production comes from Brown, who was sporadically effective shooting a turnaround from the left block last season. That depends largely on how he can develop in his third season, which is a nice segue into our next topic.

Is Kwame Brown a bust? Three years ago, Washington took high-schooler Kwame Brown with the first pick in the draft. The Wizards are still waiting for a return on their investment.

Brown has shown flashes -- such as when he averaged 16 points, 12 boards and 5.5 blocks in the first two games of last season -- but every time he takes a step forward he quickly follows it with two hops back. Brown's practice habits have been called into question by nearly everyone, and it appears he doesn't have the explosive athleticism that has marked most of the other preps-to-pros stars in the NBA.

At the same time, the jury is still out for a few reasons. For starters, Brown was subjected to the psychological double-whammy of withering verbal abuse from Jordan and nightly games of lineup roulette by Collins. Additionally, he's still just 21 years old and his career path is not unlike that of another current All-Star, Jermaine O'Neal.

But the time for excuses is rapidly coming to a close. The Wizards passed on several quality big men, such as Pau Gasol and Eddy Curry, in order to take Brown; either of those two probably would have put them in the playoffs last season. It's too early to write off Washington's investment, but it's getting to the point where it's at least being discussed.

In the running. The Eastern Conference will send eight teams to the playoffs regardless of how bad they are, and the Wizards are one of many clubs who will be in the race. But Washington may still be a year away from getting over the hump. They're young and deep, and they hired one of the league's most respected assistants, so the Wizards are no patsy. Yet odds are good that the lack of experience at small forward and the total absence of anyone who can score in the post will conspire to extend their lottery streak to six.

John Hollinger covers basketball for SI.com and is the author of Pro Basketball Prospectus. Click here to send him a question or comment.