Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason | Roster
Last year: 19-63, seventh in Atlantic, 14th in conference
Coach/GM: Doug Collins/Wes Unseld
Arena, first game: MCI Center (20,674); Dec. 2, 1997
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 1,486-1,751/1
Notable: No Wizard played in all 82 games

THE ROTATION
Pos	Player	Key Stat	Skinny
PG	Chris Whitney	.387 FG	Assists aren't critical, but his shooting is
SG	Richard Hamilton	18.1 ppg	He's no Pippen, but should get 20 ppg
SF	Michael Jordan	--	Says here he gets 25 a night -- at least
PF	Christian Laettner	.503 FG	Says here MJ tries to run him outta town
C	Jahidi White	111 blocks	Needs to be a 12 and 8 guy now
6th	C. Alexander	9.5 ppg	Averaged 17 ppg in 27 games with Wiz
7th	Tyronn Lue	3.4 ppg	Well, he does have a championship ring
8th	Kwame Brown	rookie	Not this year, but Wiz think this is future Garnett

		The biggest factor is for Michael Jordan to be able to play a majority of the games, maybe 60-70, and play at a level that is acceptable to him. If he returns to playing at a high level, it will make everybody else better around him. The Wizards are a better team than last year with the addition of No. 1 pick Kwame Brown and Tyronn Lue, along with the players they have. Jahidi White and Christian Laettner can hold down the middle. Brown will probably progress slowly, but he's a talent. Rip Hamilton and Courtney Alexander are solid players. Then throw Jordan into the mix. The Wizards won 19 games last year. If Jordan holds up, I wouldn't be surprised, if they got to .500.

By Peter May
Special to ESPN.com

Well, well, well. We finally have a team worth watching in the nation's capital for the first time in awhile. It may not be all that good. It may not be all that bad. But the mere fact that Michael Jordan has decided to play again makes the Wizards at least a product worth investigating.

There's never been this much hubbub over a 19-win team. Then again, there's never been a 19-win team quite like this one. There's a new coach with a track record of turning things around and developing young players. The Wizards have 18-wheeler turning potential and a few young players, including the No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft: Kwame Brown.

There's the magnetic presence of Jordan, who is hoping his message will get across as much as by osmosis. This is a tutorial as much as anything else. Watch Michael and learn this. Watch Michael and learn that. By the time Michael is gone, you'll understand. And, in the meantime, you also might win a few games as well. How wild would that be?

Jordan's un-retirement has done one thing for the Atlantic Division: it has made the race for the bottom every bit as competitive as the one for the top. Without Jordan, the Wizards were dead bolt locks to repeat as cellar dwellers. Now, it's far from automatic. What if Jordan still has plenty of game? What if Doug Collins presses all the right buttons?

One thing is for sure: the Wizards are, for the time being, relevant. That's due to Jordan and Jordan alone. NBC did the extraordinary and actually recognized that the league starts before Christmas by agreeing to televise two games prior to Dec. 25. The Wizards are playing in each one. Hmm. TNT, for goodness sakes, elected to nationally televise an exhibition game against the Nets, an affair which probably would draw Goodwill Games numbers. But it's Michael and Saturday night programming is a wasteland anyway.

You get the picture? (Yes, we see.) The Wizards will be the most scrutinized team coming out of the box as everyone waits to see how it all unfolds. Before, when Jordan was with Chicago, you knew you had until June to get the answer. This time, you might actually have to start paying attention in November. Hey, NBC has decided to do that. That, in itself, tells you all you should need to know.

Who's Who
Let's see. There'll be a new guy, bulked up a bit, minus some hops, who'll be doing duty at shooting guard, point guard and small forward. He could help and he came cheap -- $1 million. But Jordan isn't the only new face on this revamped roster. Brown looked predictably clueless in the exhibition season, but everyone likes his upside. He's 6-11, agile, and, from what we can tell, willing to learn. Collins is also a huge addition. He not only knows the game and the league, he knows Mike. And on those inevitable nights when Collins will be looking for the closest bridge, Jordan will be around to talk him out of it. There's also Tyronn Lue from the Lakers, who will help at point guard, and Etan Thomas, who missed all of last season with injuries, but is a potential inside force.

	FANTASY SLEEPER
	Christian Laettner, PF -- Playing with Michael Jordan qualifies every Wizard as a sleeper. However, Laettner's experience among an otherwise young squad should translate into major minutes. Laettner can shoot, pass and is a serviceable rebounder. He won't stand out in any one category, but in Jordan's shadow, he should be an above average, albeit unnoticed, contributor across the board.

The Big Question
Hmm, will Chris Whitney adjust to his role? OK, everyone knows the big one here. Will the Jordan magic rub off the way it did in Chicago in terms of improvement? Or will he stumble the same way Magic Johnson stumbled and curse the cellphone/beeper generation on his way out the door? The real fear for Jordan isn't failure, but injury. He isn't afraid to take on a Herculean challenge at the expense of his own possible basketball mortality. But there's already been signs of vulnerability in the health department -- and at 38, those things tend to pop up more often than they did when you're 25. Still, Jordan has shown us in the exhibition season that he can score and still play. The bigger challenge, bringing his team along with him, will be season-long.

Best Case Scenario
More than a few are willing to go out on a limb and project the Wizards into the playoffs. That is the absolute best case scenario -- and in the East, it's not out of the question. Jordan should be worth 20-odd wins to this team and the nucleus, as well as the coach, are both upgrades over last year. That alone could translate into 40-42 wins, which should be enough to get them into the postseason. (NBC would insist on it.) But that's assuming Jordan stays healthy, Collins stays sane and the kids are all right.

Worst Case Scenario
Jordan goes down for the count, Collins calls back NBC and asks to be re-hired and things continue along the same, sickening path. But a lot would have to go wrong for this team not to be better than last year's hapless, 19-63 group. But not a lot has to go wrong for them to make only marginal improvement, say, 25-30 wins. There are still a lot of holes on this team and most rivals have improved. Then again, so have the Wizards. There's simply no way they'll be as lousy, dysfunctional and scattered as last season. Collins alone should get them to 30 wins.

OVERRATED	UNDERRATED	TEAM MVP
Christian Laettner. Frankly, he's so average now he's not that overrated, but he's the closest to it on this team.	Hubert Davis. Likewise, nobody here is real underrated, but Davis is a fantastic shooter.	Michael Jordan. What, you thought we were picking Popeye Jones?