Washington Wizards: The Big Three Becomes the Big Thirteen

The Washington Wizards have never been a team to place a wager on.

Over the past three seasons, they have become a nerve-racking bunch to watch and have played inconsistently at best. They are a team full of potential, but that potential that has yet to be fulfilled.

For the past three seasons, injuries have plagued the Wizards at horrible times. These injuries have led to them being a .500 team.

But while it looks like the record this year will be the same, the team's mentality is totally different.

The Washington Wizards of the past two seasons crumbled when a member of the Big Three (Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and Gilbert Arenas) was injured.

Last year, the Big Three was the highest scoring trio in the league. The Wizards relied on their three major offensive weapons to torch their opponents. Defense seemed to be a non-issue.

The lineup surrounding the Big Three was largely comprised of role players, or players reduced to being role players because there were just not enough touches to go around.

But this year, with injuries to the Big Three and starting center Etan Thomas out for the season, every player on the Wizards roster has had a chance to shine. Without their usual potent scoring options, the Wizards have had to trust the Princeton style offense and play hard-nosed defense.

Brendan Haywood, Deshawn Stevenson, Roger Mason Jr., and Andray Blatche are all having career years. Rookies Oleksiy Pecherov, Dominic McGuire, and Nick Young have all shown flashes of brilliance too.

Now as the end of the season approaches, this team looks set for another mediocre .500 record.

On paper this may look like a disappointment, but this record holds a lot more weight than in previous years because this year the Wizards have depth.

The bench players actually maintain the score when they sub in. They are not expected to bust the lead wide open, but neither is it assumed that they will fall behind. They are put in to give the starters a breather.

This year the Wizards have had to sub in their second and even third unit for most of the season while their starters rested and rehabbed. While the rest of the league's teams have struggled during stretches without their star players (see Cleveland, Dallas, Portland, San Antonio, and Toronto), the Wizards have stayed afloat.

They have not done any better or worse than last year, but the Wiz managed to stay par for the course.

Wednesday's game against the Celtics will be the second time the Big Three have had the chance to share the court together since November.

The Wizards are a completely different team now. Having the top three leading scorers back together is just icing on the cake.

This is a team that does not have to rely on its All Stars to get the job done. They don't have to rely on simply outscoring opponents either. Every one of these players knows he can step out on the court and make the big shot or a big stop.

With the playoffs a little more than a mere week away and the entire squad getting healthy, opposing teams' scouts are starting to figure out what Wizard's fans have known all season. This team is going to be more than a Big Three come playoff time. It’s going to be a Big Thirteen.