The Washington Wizards hope that new head coach Flip Saunders can bring out the best in the very talented roster they have assembled for him. Saunders has a career regular season record of 587-396 (59.7%) and he has a post season record of 47-51 (48%). Saunders has coached both young and veteran teams as a NBA head coach so he can relate to both kinds of players which the Wizards have a nice mix of. I definately see Saunders getting the Wizards back to the playoffs this season and it will be interesting to see how they play once they get there.

All the Wizards want out of the center position is defense and rebounding. The group they have at this position should be capable of handling that job. Brendan Haywood missed almost all of last season for the Wizards as he only played in 6 games. In those games Haywood averaged 29.2 minutes, 9.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.5 blocked shots per game. The Wizards would be ecstatic if he could average those kind of numbers in 70+ games this season. 34-year old Fabricio Oberto is the veteran option behind Haywood. He played in 54 games for the Spurs last season and he averaged 12.5 minutes, 2.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. The younger option behind Haywood is 21-year old JaVale McGee who has a nice upside. He played in 75 games for the Wizards last season and he averaged 15.2 minutes, 6.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Andray Blatche will also get some playing time in the pivot this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CENTERS IN 2009-2010: C-

33-year old Antwan Jamison is back to start at power forward for the Wizards this season. He is one of the most underrated basketball players in the entire NBA. Jamison played in 81 games for the Wizards last season and he averaged 38.2 minutes, 22.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Jamison still has plenty left in the gas tank despite him getting up there in age. 23-year old Andray Blatche will back up Jamison this season. He played in 71 games last season for the Wizards and he averaged 24.0 minutes, 10.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Blatche will also get some playing time at center this season for the Wizards as he is a player on the rise.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POWER FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: A-

The Wizards are very deep at small forward. It all starts with 29-year old Caron Butler who plays hard on both ends of the basketball court. He played in 67 games for the Wizards last season and he averaged 38.6 minutes, 20.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game. The Wizards will likely cut back Butler’s minutes a lit bit this season in an effort to keep him fresh and healthy. Mike Miller will be the top backup behind Butler and he is a good basketball player. He played in 73 games for the Timberwolves last season and he averaged 32.3 minutes, 9.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. Miller is a good shooter and he will also play some shooting guard this season. 23-year old Dominic McGuire will likely see his minutes drop quite a bit this season. He played in 79 games for the Wizards last season and he averaged 26.2 minutes, 4.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SMALL FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: A-

25-year old Randy Foye will likely be the starting shooting guard for the Wizards unless Agent Zero is hurting then he will likely start at the point. Foye played in 70 games for the T-Wolves last season and he averaged 35.6 minutes, 16.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He should really add to the offense of the Wizards this season. 24-year old Nick Young will likely back up Foye this season. He played in all 82 games for the Wizards last year and he averaged 22.4 minutes, 10.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Young is not pleased that he was blocked for a starting job because of the Wizards’ trade in the off-season which brought in Foye and Mike Miller. 28-year old DeShawn Stevenson is still around but he will likely be buried on the depth chart. Stevenson played in 32 games with the Wizards last season and he averaged 27.7 minutes, 6.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He lost his starting job because of how he shot the ball last year (31.2%) from the floor. If Foye has to start at the point because of an injury to Gilbert Arenas, Mike Miller would likely take over as the starting shooting guard for the Wizards.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SHOOTING GUARDS IN 2009-2010: B