The Washington Wizards are now 1-8 this year, so they should start looking at their younger players more. 22-year old forward Chris Singleton has played pretty decent basketball so far this year for the Wizards. He has played in 9 games (2 starts) for the Wizards so far this year and he is averaging 22.9 minutes, 5.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game. 21-year old power forward Jan Vesely got off to a late start this year due to injury. He has played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Wizards so far this year and he is averaging 13.0 minutes, 3.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Vesely called Blake Griffin the American version of himself, so it will be interesting to see if he can back that up or not. 22-year old guard Shelvin Mack has played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Wizards so far this year and he is averaging 7.6 minutes, 2.1 points, 0.6 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. The Wizards have nothing to lose by playing their rookie trio a lot.

The Wizards’ lost season allowed them to get a good look at a bunch of rookies in 2010-11, and these guys have a lot of potential. 20-year old point guard John Wall really showed off some impressive skills last year. He played in 69 games (64 starts) for the Wizards last year and he averaged 37.8 minutes, 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He didn’t shoot too well last year as he only hit 40.9% of his shots from the floor and 29.6% from three point line last year. I think he will work on his shooting over the summer and be even a better player for the Wizards in 2011-12. The Wizards got 22-year old shooting guard Jordan Crawford back as part of the return in the Kirk Hinrich deal with the Hawks, and he was really good. Crawford played in 26 games (18 starts) for the Wizards and he averaged 33.3 minutes, 16.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He played in 42 games (18 starts) overall last year for the Hawks and Wizards and he averaged 24.5 minutes, 11.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Crawford only shot 38.4% from the floor last year, so he will have some work to do over the summer to improve his shooting a bit. 23-year old power forward Trevor Booker also has a bright future for the Wizards. Booker played in 65 games (14 starts) for the Wizards last year and he averaged 16.4 minutes, 5.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. He shot 54.9% from the floor which shows that he’s pretty unselfish and takes good shots. His season ended early due to a foot injury but he has a bright future with the team. 21-year old power forward Kevin Seraphin didn’t show too much as a rookie. He played in 58 games (1 start) for the Wizards last year and he averaged 10.9 minutes, 2.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. 24-year old center Hamady N’Diaye will likely be a developmental project. He played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Wizards last year and he averaged 5.0 minutes, 0.9 points and 0.4 assists per game. 28-year old SG/SF Larry Owens got signed late in the year to help out the injury depleted Wizards’ roster. He played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Wizards last year and he averaged 22.4 minutes, 6.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Owens played in 12 games (0 starts) overall for the Spurs & Wizards last year and he averaged 11.9 minutes, 3.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Owens will likely get a shot to win a job on the Wizards’ bench in 2011-12.

23-year old rookie forward Trevor Booker is likely done for the season as he has a crack in his right foot.  This is a big blow to both Booker and the Wizards as he was in line for some big time P.T. the rest of the year.  Booker played in 65 games (14 starts) for the Wizards this year and he averaged 16.4 minutes, 5.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  Booker shot 54.9% from the floor this year which is pretty impressive for a rookie.  I really like Booker and I think he will be a key to the Wizards new rebuilding plan.

The Washignton Wizards have a lot of potential in the rookie class and they will likely get a lot of action the rest of this year. It all starts with 20-year old point guard John Wall. Wall has played in 48 games (43 starts) for the Wizards so far this year and he is averaging 37.1 minutes, 15.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. If Blake Griffin weren’t still considered a rookie, John Wall might have won the Rookie of the Year Award in the NBA this year. 23-year old power forward Trevor Booker has responded with some big games whenever he replaced Andray Blatche in the starting lineup. Booker has played in 54 games (6 starts) for the Wizards this season and he is averaging 13.5 minutes, 4.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Booker is shooting 55.6% from the floor so far this year so he looks like he will be able to handle as many minutes as the Wizards give him. I think he will be a future starter for the Wizards. 22-year old shooting guard Jordan Crawford came over to the Wizards recently in the Kirk Hinrich trade with the Hawks. Crawford has played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Wizards so far and he is averaging 13.0 minutes, 4.5 points, 0.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.3 steals per game. He has now played in 20 games (0 starts) overall this year and he is averaging 10.6 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game on 35.3% shooting from the floor. Crawford was buried on the Hawks’ bench so he is understandably rusty right now. He has a lot of potential 21-year old power forward Kevin Seraphin is #3 on the depth chart for the Wizards right now. He has played in 36 games (1 start) for the Wizards so far this year and he is averaging 9.6 minutes, 2.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Seraphin will likely be able to handle more minutes if the Wizards need to play more. 24-year old center Hamady N’diaye has only played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Wizards so far this year and he is averaging 3.0 minutes and 0.8 points per game. He is a developmental prospect who is going to take some time before he’s ready for a decent role with the Wizards. Overall, the Wizards have one of the best rookie classes, so the future appears to be much brighter than the present is for the Wizards.

Starting center JaVale McGee has missed two games in a row which got rookie 23-year old forward Trevor Booker into the starting lineup. Booker has averaged 40.0 minutes, 16.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per games in his 2 starts in place of McGee. Booker shot 14 of 19 (73.7%) from the floor in those two games. Booker has now played in 40 games (4 starts) so far in his rookie year for the Wizards and he is averaging 12.3 minutes, 4.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game on 53.7% shooting from the floor. The Wizards are going to have to find more P.T. for Booker and Yi Jianlian will likely be the player most likely to lose court time.