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If there is a team in the NBA today that perfectly exemplifies what it means to rebuild, that team is the Washington Wizards. They started last season hoping to finally realize their dreams of contending, but instead injuries, suspensions and ultimately trades put the team back at square one.

Drafting John Wall was a great start as the Wizards look to the future, but there are many moves and plenty of player development now standing between the Wizards and the playoffs. President and GM Erie Grunfeld isn’t closed to trades, but he does think another significant deal between now and the trade deadline is unlikely. 

"For us it would really depend on what the deal is," Grunfeld tells HOOPSWORLD. "Of course, you never turn down the right deal, but it would have to really be the right deal. There’s not as much conversation going on this year as in years past because a lot of teams are waiting to see how things will work out with the new collective bargaining agreement. We’ve positioned ourselves pretty well from a financial standpoint. We have some solid young players and our future looks good."

The one more the Wizards absolutely needed as they came into the 2011-12 season was a trade for Gilbert Arenas. That seemed unlikely, but the Orlando Magic surfaced in talks and the Wizards were able to unload Arenas and land a solid long-term piece in Rashard Lewis.

"When you have a young point guard like John, who’s a good penetrator, you need as many good shooters as you can have," says Grunfeld. "Rashard is an outstanding outside shooter who really spreads the defense. He comes from a winning system, he’s a good, solid defender, he’s versatile because he can play two positions, and he’s a true professional. He’s been a nice addition to our ball club. The players respect him, he leads by example, and he’s been through a lot of big games. Our young players can learn a lot by watching how he plays and how he conducts himself."

First and foremost, the Wizards would like Lewis to turn back the clock a bit and play more like the scoring machine he was during his days as a Seattle SuperSonic.

"Everybody has their role, and right now I don’t know if he’s going to be a primary option, but he’s a big part of what we’re trying to do," says Grunfeld. "We’re trying to get him back to playing like he did in Seattle, posting him up a little bit more to take advantage of mismatches because he does have really good size at the three spot. He has the post-up game, the three, and he also puts the ball down every once in a while. I think we’re trying to get more out of him than the Magic did because in Orlando they had Dwight and he’s going to get most of the looks on the inside. We’re trying to get him back to being the player that he was in Seattle."

"Our goal all along when we decided to rebuild was also to make sure we had some veteran players who had been there before. Guys like Kirk (Hinrich) and now Rashard and Josh Howard we have three veterans who had been there before and our players look up to them. Unfortunately, we haven’t had all three of them together yet. Really, this is a new team. We’ve only had this team for 17 or 18 games because when Rashard came it changed everybody’s roles. Nick young went into the starting lineup and he’s playing very well over the last 19 games or so and everybody plays a little bit different now, so we’re still getting used to one another. We also haven’t had Josh that whole time and when we get him back he’ll be able to help us. We really have to take one game at a time, try to improve, and try to continue to develop our young players."

Unfortunately, Howard has yet to really have a sustained run without injuries. Knee and ankle injuries have set him back significantly since his All-Star days in Dallas and he’s only appeared in eight games for the Wizards this season. Still, the Wizards are hopeful that Howard will be an impact player for them once he’s fully healthy.

"When Josh first came from the injury he was playing really well for us because he’s feisty," says Grunfeld. "He’s been there before and he’s not afraid. He has the experience and he a high basketball IQ. When you come off of injuries it’s going to take some time, but he’s an extremely hard worker and he has the kind of body that heals quickly, a long, lean type of body. He’s only 30 years old and we think he has a lot left in the tank."

Overall, with veterans like Hinrich, Lewis and Howard guiding an impressive collection of young talent that includes an impressive rookie in John Wall, the Wizards have at least gotten their rebuilding process off to a good start.

"We’re really just starting the rebuilding process," Grunfeld affirms. "We’re about one year in. We were fortunate to get the number one pick in John Wall, but this is really the first year of our rebuild, so we still obviously have a ways to go. We eel like we have some solid pieces that we can build with and around, but at the end of the day the players will tell US by their performance and their improvement which ones we’ll go forward with."

For now it looks like the group the Wizards have in place will be the group they finish the season with, and that’s not all bad. They’ve been very competitive at home and they’re starting to show improvement on the road. If Josh Howard can finally get healthy, they can start to hang some wins on the board and at least build some momentum for next season.

Joe Johnson: Hawks Are Contenders

The Atlanta Hawks have been one of the better teams in an Eastern Conference filled with mediocre clubs for the past two seasons. This year the East is better, and the Hawks are rarely mentioned as possible Eastern Conference Finalists, let alone actual contenders. Hawks captain Joe Johnson tells HOOPSWORLD his team is for real, talks about Jamal Crawford, and more in this exclusive interview:

Brown And The Pacers?

The news that the Indiana Pacers were letting head coach Jim O’Brien go came as absolutely no surprise. In fact, most felt the move was overdue. What caused many fans in Indiana to raise their eyebrows was the decision to replace O’Brien with his assistant, Frank Vogel.

{AUTHOR_BOX}The truth is, an established head coach like, say, Jeff Van Gundy, would be highly unlikely to take a team like Indiana mid-season. Consider that there would be little practice time, and therefore little time to insitute a new system. You basically have enough practice time to make small tweaks to the system that was already in place, and in a situation like that the best option is often one of the coaches who was already involved with the system. Add the uncertainty of the labor negotiations and the fact that a new head coach would inherit a staff of assistants who are already under contract, and it’s easy to see why the short-term answer was the one closest at hand.

Make no mistake, however. Vogel is the short-term solution.

Peter Vecsey makes an astute observation today in discussing Indiana’s head coaching position going forward, pointing out that former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown was once an assistant under Rick Carlisle in Indiana and remains a favorite of owner Herb Simon. Brown decided to take the season off after the intensity of Cleveland’s title chase and LeBron James’ exodus, but could very well throw his name back into the ring next season.

After all of that pressure to win a championship, the 2009 Coach Of The Year would likely relish a shot at helping a team complete a rebuilding process that is already well underway.

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