22-year old JaVale McGee has been moved into the starting lineup at center for the Wizards and he is playing solid basketball. In his last four games McGee is averaging 22.5 minutes, 9.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 2.3 blocked shots per game. McGee has now played in 32 games (4 starts) for the Wizards this season and he is averaging 9.9 minutes, 3.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.1 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. The Wizards need him to keep up the good work.

23-year old power forward Andray Blatche has moved into the starting lineup because of the trades the Wizards recently made and he is taking advantage of it big time. In his last four games, Blatche is averaging 34.5 minutes, 25.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per contest. Overall this season Blatche has played in 53 games (8 starts) in which he is averaging 22.8 minutes, 10.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Blatche is already making everyone forget about Antwan Jamison and it will be interesting to see if he can maintain his current play the rest of the year.

The early returns are good for the players the Wizards acquired in the last couple of weeks in trades involving Caron Butler, Antwan Jamison and Brendan Haywood. Al Thornton is playing the best basketball of the new guys so far. He has played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Wizards so far and he is averaging 30.3 minutes, 16.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.7 blocked shots per game. Thornton is shooting 52.6% from the floor so far this season for the Wizards. Josh Howard has also played really well for the Wizards as he has played in 4 games (3 starts) in which he is averaging 22.8 minutes, 14.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. James Singleton is providing some muscle off the bench for the Wizards so far. He has played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Wizards so far and he is averaging 22.3 minutes, 7.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Quinton Ross had also pitched in off the bench for the Wizards playing in 4 games (0 starts) in which he is averaging 11.0 minutes, 4.0 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game on 58.3% shooting from the floor. Emir Preldric is still in Europe and Zydrunas Ilgauskas is in Cleveland awaiting a buyout from the Wizards.

The Wizards are likely going to trade 33-year old power forward Antwan Jamison next week. The Wizards better make sure they at least get one talented young player back for him. Jamison has played in 41 games (all starts) for the Wizards this season and he is averaging 38.9 minutes, 20.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Jamison still has a lot of game left but the Wizards would like to get out of his contract as he has two more years worth around $28 million bucks left on it.

With the trade deadline on the horizon a lot of teams are calling the Wizards about center Brendan Haywood. The Wizards will consider trading Haywood if they get a solid return for him. Haywood is playing the best basketball of his NBA career this season for the Wizards. He has played in 48 games (47 starts) for the Wizards this season and he is averaging 33.0 minutes, 9.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game. While most of his shots come off putbacks and dunks it’s still impressive that he has hit 56.1% of his shots from the floor. Unless the Wizards get a nice return for Haywood they should just keep him.