23-year old center JaVale McGee is a player on the rise for the Washington Wizards. He played in 79 games (75 starts) for the Wizards last year and he averaged 27.8 minutes, 10.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 2.4 blocked shots per game. Blatche has now played in 214 games (108 starts) in his first three years with the Wizards and he is averaging 20.1 minutes, 7.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. This could be McGee’s big breakout season for the Wizards. 21-year old Kevin Seraphin will backup McGee at center this year. He played in 58 games (1 start) as a rookie last year and he averaged 10.9 minutes, 2.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.

25-year old power forward Andray Blatche really stepped up last year and the Wizards hope he keeps up the good work in 2011-12. Blatche played in 64 games (63 starts) for the Wizards last year and he averaged 33.9 minutes, 16.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He has now played in 383 games (163 starts) in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 22.6 minutes, 10.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. 24-year old Trevor Booker looked pretty solid as a rookie last year for the Wizards. He played in 65 games (14 starts) for the Wizards last year and he averaged 16.4 minutes, 5.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Booker has a nice upside so the Wizards will find a way to get him more P.T. in 2011-12.

32-year old Rashard Lewis is going to be the starting small forward this year. He played in 57 games (52 starts) for the Magic & Wizards last year and he averaged 32.0 minutes, 11.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Lewis has now played in 906 games (812 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 34.3 minutes, 16.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. 21-year old Jan Vesely out of the Czech Republic was a high first round pick of the Wizards last June in the NBA Draft. He calls Blake Griffin the American version of him. That’s a lot of talk to back up but the Wizards hope that he is accurate. 21-year old Chris Singleton was another first round pick of the Wizards last June out of Florida State. The Wizards will likely bring Singleton along a little slower than Vesely.

23-year old shooting guard Jordan Crawford stated that he was going to be better than Michael Jordan over the summer. That is pretty big talk coming from a second year player. Crawford played in 26 games (18 starts) for the Wizards last year after coming over in a deal with the Hawks and he averaged 33.3 minutes, 16.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Crawford played in 42 games (18 starts) overall with the Hawks & Wizards and he averaged 24.5 minutes, 11.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Crawford has a huge upside and the Wizards essentially stole him from the Hawks in the Kirk Hinrich deal.