1.Miami 2.New York 3.Washington 4.Orlando 5.New Jersey 6.Philadelphia 7.Boston

Bernie Bickerstaff is one of the NBA's shrewdest evaluators of talent. Over the course of his career as a coach and a general manager, he has pulled off such coups as selecting Shawn Kemp for the Sonics with the 17th pick in the 1989 draft and bringing Mark Jackson to the Nuggets in a trade for Jalen Rose in June '96. But when Bickerstaff, the coach of the club formerly known as the Bullets, and Washington G.M. Wes Unseld cast their eyes over the roster this off-season, examining it for gaping holes and deadweight, they decided not to do a dang thing. Take this as a sign that the newly dubbed Wizards are on the yellow brick road to becoming one of the league's elite teams.

"We have three players with the potential to be great and some who are willing to be role players," says Bickerstaff. "I believe we can have a very good team."

Last season, under Bickerstaff, Washington finally got some results from its seemingly bottomless pool of talent. When he took over for the fired Jim Lynam last Feb. 10, the Bullets were a shattered, spineless group with a 22-25 record. The new coach immediately made three key changes: He installed an in-your-face, team-oriented defense similar to the one played by Pat Riley's Heat; he spread out the offense, opening up shots for 2-guard Calbert Cheaney; and, most important, he put the ball in the hands of point guard Rod Strickland and told him to run, run, run.

Bickerstaff's moves worked beautifully. Under their new coach, the Bullets shed their lethargy and went 22-13, to finish at 44-38 and earn the final playoff spot in the East. It hardly mattered that they were bounced from the postseason by the Bulls in three straight. A new attitude had taken root.

"We have a cohesion about our team right now," says backup guard Tim Legler, who missed all but 15 games last season with an injured right knee but has fully recovered. "Twelve players and the to make the play."

Such feel-good talk is due in large part to the play of Strickland, who has been with four teams in his nine-year career (and has been to the playoffs in each of those years). Before Bickerstaff's arrival, Strickland was struggling in an offense that usually went through forwards Juwan Howard and Chris Webber. But when unleashed by Bickerstaff, Strickland showed that he can attack the basket and finish as well as any point guard in the game. And this team is clearly at its best when it's running: Washington was 33-8 last season when it scored 100 or more points.

The two other luminaries on the squad are Howard and Webber. Howard started slowly last year, perhaps trying too hard to prove worthy of his seven-year, $105 million contract, but he settled down as the season progressed and finished strongly. Webber, despite his lack of any genuine low-post moves, was one of only three NBA players to average more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. What's scary about Webber is that after four NBA seasons, he's just beginning to tap his talents. He made his first All-Star appearance in 1997, and if he continues to flower, there will be many more.

The complementary players are solid. Cheaney topped NBA starting shooting guards in field goal percentage. Center Gheorghe Muresan led the league in shooting percentage for the second consecutive year, though he appeared to slip as the season went on, mainly because at 7'7" and 303 pounds, he couldn't keep up with the breakneck offense. He'll get some help now that backup Lorenzo Williams is healthy; he missed all but 19 games last year with various injuries to his left leg. An aggressive rebounder, Williams will spell Muresan about 15 minutes a night.

Though Washington made no roster changes of note, the organization's image underwent a major face-lift during the off-season. Along with the kinder, gentler new name, the team has new blue-black-and-bronze uniforms, new digs in downtown D.C. and three new assistants. It may take time for the fans to adjust to the changes after 34 years of the Bullets, but with the top 10 players from last season back, the Wizards themselves won't be suffering from an identity crisis.

"I am a person who believes you can't stay put and keep getting better," says Unseld. "But this group is so young, and we started to see what they can do toward the end of last season. I think we should give them the opportunity."

It's a chance these young Wizards won't waste.

—Lars Anderson