Is it too early to get excited about the Wizards?

And, perhaps more importantly, are they deserving of any excitement? With the Redskins uncertain at best (sorry, the win over the University of Houston Texans didn't exactly give me Super Bowl fever), the Nats winding down a tough-but-interesting season, and all major Maryland sports in the, how do you say, toilet, there isn't much for a local sports fan like me to hang his hat on (DC United being a recent exception).

So today's story on how the Wizards front office is looking to take the next step kind of got me excited about the upcoming season (exhibition games start in two weeks).


Donnell Taylor is one of those role
players that makes a good team even better.

Sure, we lost Jared Jeffries, but is that REALLY that big of a deal? He wasn't happy here, so screw him. As long as we still have Gilbert and Caron Butler to build around, I like our chances. We signed white guy banger Darius Songalia and emerging defensive star DeShawn Stevenson over the offseason. Add in Antawn Jamison, Brendan "I know he's a stiff but he's still really big" Haywood, and Jarvis Hayes (if he can stay healthy) and that's a pretty solid core.

Plus, the Wizards have better role players than in previous years. Good "chemistry" guys like Michael Ruffin and the tenacious Donnell "I will rip somebody's arms off if it means I can stay on an NBA roster" Taylor have been lacking in seasons past. I especially like Taylor. That's the kind of young, hungry player they didn't care about (*coughBenWallacecough*) in previous front office regimes.

So hey, we'll see what happens. But I'm getting pumped. Now if we can just keep LeBron James away from the line while we're shooting free throws, we'll be all set.

Hyperlinks:
- Wizards Think Bigger

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