The Washington Wizards Look Toward To an Uncertain Future

The Washington Wizards have successfully outdone themselves in futility by making their 19 win season from a year ago look moderately successful. At least then they weren't making headlines for criminal behavior.

Asking where do they go from here seems trivial given the magnitude of problems facing the organization.

There is no point in referencing past successes in relation to their present failures because none of that has any bearing on the potentially bleak future facing the Wizards. Color me a pessimist, but there is simply no winning in the near future for this team.

I dare anyone to prove me wrong.

The star point guard they paid $111 million to be the cornerstone of the franchise is suspended indefinitely for felony gun charges, their best player is undersized and over-the-hill, they have too much money invested in too few players, and the draft has been vastly underutilized in building for the future.

There is no tunnel, let alone a light at the end of it.

The Wizards shot themselves in the foot, pun tastelessly intended. They should have seen four years ago that the players they brought together weren't going to bring them the title they so desperately covet. They got further with the Gilbert Arenas/Larry Hughes/Antawn Jamison trio than with Caron Butler in place of Hughes.

Washington shouldn't have settled on a line-up that has proven to be inconsistent and injury-prone. Jamison, the oldest out of the Arenas, Butler and Brendan Haywood has missed the least amount of time and earned the least amount of respect. 

The Wizards have assembled an array of underrated, underachieving talent and now it is time to move on.

The free agent class for the coming offseason is oversaturated with talent. Everyone is going to want to put their bid in for the likes of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Dirk Nowitski, and a number of other potential restricted free agents. The point is, the Wizards aren't going to be a factor in the bidding war if they can't unload the dead money on their books.

Even before they can consider any trades or voiding Arenas' contract, they need an owner.

Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals and 44 percent of the Washington Sports and Entertainment Limited Partnership (WSELP), is the primary candidate for the position, but has yet to reach an agreement to take over control of the team. The trade deadline is approaching, and the deadline to establish ownership has been extended and pushed back to accommodate Leonsis.

It is hardly his fault, but the longer Leonsis takes to take over controlling stake in the team, the less chance the Wizards have in beginning their much needed rebuild this season.

The trade deadline, impending free agents, and a long remainder of the season aren't doing the Wizards any favors. Once the ownership issue is settled, and the Wizards do void Arenas' contract (trust me, they will), there are a number of opportunities available to Washington in a very short amount of time to take them.

Jamison and Butler are easily the most valuable players the Wizards have. They do have a number of expiring contracts on their roster, which are valuable to teams looking to open up cap space for next season.

Mike Miller, Mike James, Fabricio Oberto, Earl Boykins, and Dominic McGuire are all free agents next season and could serve as trade fodder for the Wizards to bring in some valuable talent or draft picks.

The possibilities are almost literally endless.

The only issue is that everything has to happen within the next two weeks. There is no margin for error for the Wizards. They need to start over or they will continue to be on the losing end of the continued improvement of the rest of the Eastern Conference.

Trades and potential free agency are only part of the equation. Kwame Brown was almost 10 years ago, maybe it's time Washington won the draft lottery again. John Wall anyone?