2008 Outlook

The Washington Wizards season appeared over after All-Star point guard Gilbert Arenas went down with a knee injury eight games into the season. The season was rescues b the breakout performance by small forward Caron Butler who had a strong overall game averaging over 20 pints, six rebounds, and nearly 5 assists a game. Unfortunately he missed a large chunk of the middle of the season with an injury of his own. The Wizards have managed to survive in the Southeast Division and the weak Eastern Conference behind strong play from power forward Antwan Jamison and a handful of veteran role players and athletic young players.

Team History
The Washington Wizards were established in the NBA in 1961 as the Chicago Packers. Two name changes and a location change later, the team played in Baltimore as the Bullets. The franchise had some success, but nothing that would compare to the late 1960s and 70s.

The Bullets would draft two future Hall of Famers, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe and Wes Unseld in the late 1960s. The Franchise would fall to the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs, but would defeat the Knicks in the 1971 playoffs to capture their first of four conference titles. The Bullets lost to the Bucks in four games in the championship. The followed the series loss by trading Monroe to the Knicks and picking up Elvin Hayes and drafting Kevin Porter. The team also changed cities a year later, moving to Landover, Maryland and taking the name the Capitol Bullets. The Capitol Bullets would go on to win three conference titles and an NBA title in 1978.

The next decade would be characterized by losing seasons and the acquiring of extremes. The Bullets acquired the 7 foot 7 Manute Bol in 1985 and drafted the 5 foot 3 Muggsy Bogues in 1987. The Bullets built a talented team in the 90s that never quite created a great team. The roster of the 1990s included Chris Webber, Juan Howard, Rasheed Wallace, 7 foot 7 Gheorghe Muresan, and point guard Rod Strickland. That period was also marked by the final name change from the Washington Bullets to the Washington Wizards.

The team has continued to try and find itself since the name changing, going through a couple of years with Michael Jordan in a comeback attempt and the first round disaster Kwame Brown. The team has rebuilt itself in recent years and appears to be on the verge of a resurgence with the point guard play of Gilbert Arenas, the solid power forward Antwan Jamison, and the recent development of Caron Butler. Watch those players take the court for the Washington Wizards live with spectacular tickets from TheSeats.com.