What has Michael Jordan gotten himself into?

	Juwan Howard is coming off the worst season of his career, but he's capable of bouncing back.

There are two schools of thought when trying to analyze how the greatest basketball player of this era will do as an executive. Some say he will fail miserably, that the team has too many problems, malcontents and bad contracts to deal with, that unlike when Jordan was playing, he can't change the team's fortunes just by showing up and performing. Then there are those upbeat and loyal MJ fans who claim the man can do anything he sets out to do, that he'll convince some deranged owner to take on Juwan Howard or Rod Strickland and he'll turn things around faster than you can say Bugs Bunny.

With that, we present Offseason Team Spotlight No. 29, the Washington Wizards. If you follow the NBA, you know that there are only 29 teams, so this is it for our summer-long series. Check out our Spotlight Index page to see what we've already done. And as always, we have our opinions, which are below, but we also appreciate yours. Click on the right side of the page to see what ESPN.com users were thinking.

Why the Wizards were 29-53: Only two teams in the East finished with records worse than the Wizards: the rebuilding Bulls, who were trying to lose, waiting for that high draft pick and cap room for the offseason, and the Hawks, who underwent internal turmoil and are preparing for their own free agent extravaganza after this season. So what was Washington's excuse?

This isn't a franchise with any cap room at all. There are precious few building blocks to look forward to watching. Fans are very, very down on the team. For a decade the Wizards were remarkably consistent with being average (between 35 and 43 wins from 1979-80 to 1989-90). But since then, put simply, they've just been bad, winning more than 31 games only three times and being swept in their lone playoff appearance.

The main reason this team stinks is the good players that are here are past their prime and could care less if the team wins or loses its next game. That may sound rude, but Howard is in the middle of a Pat Riley-induced contract for Kevin Garnett numbers, and seems to have lost interest in playing hard. He gets mercilessly booed. Strickland was a bad egg in college and hasn't exactly become likable in stops in New York, San Antonio and Portland. Still very talented, he's also overpaid, and makes it clear he'd rather be anyplace else than practicing. And good guy Mitch Richmond has either lost the will to play or his game is mush. Probably a little of both.

It gets worse after these three, who averaged 47 points a night, even though their career averages combined heading in to the season were more than 10 points a game higher. Add that inspired play to that of free agent nightmare Isaac Austin and unhappy sniper Tracy Murray and you get a bad, bad season. There were some players on the bench who seemed to care, like underrated point guard Chris Whitney, improving big men Aaron Williams and Jahidi White, team guys Michael Smith and Don Reid, and rookie Richard Hamilton, who does have an upside. But a few bad eggs can spoil the entire team.

	Current projected top 6
	PG	Rod Strickland
	SG	Mitch Richmond
	SF	Juwan Howard
	PF	Michael Smith
	C	Jahidi White
	6th	Richard Hamilton

Team MVP: Man, you could wrack your brain coming up with an MVP on this team. In Chicago and Clipperland, it's easy finding the best player. In D.C., the entire starting lineup underachieved. Richmond led the team in scoring (though he was more than 8½ points below his average of only three years earlier) and isn't a bad guy. We choose him by default. In a year, if MJ turns things around, it might be him. Team LVP: It's not Howard or Strickland, though they are worthy; It's definitely Austin, who cost the Wiz four players in a brutal trade with Orlando and contributed a pathetic 6.7 points a night in 19.9 minutes. Now he's Vancouver's problem. Surprise! Brace yourself, we're about to write something positive. White was not really expected to have a bright NBA future. People may disagree today, but it's true. The local draft pick from Georgetown played 20 games as a rookie, and played little the first month of last season. Then people realized Austin wasn't in a slump at all, he just stunk, and White got minutes. White averaged 8.2 points and 7.6 rebounds in 59 starts, with a nice field goal percentage and some blocks. He won't be a 20-10 guy, but he tries hard. Up and comer: The player with the most upside on the squad is clearly Hamilton, who had a rough rookie season. The 1999 draft's No. 7 pick was shooting less than 40 percent and averaging less than seven points until someone finally gave him a chance in March. Hamilton doesn't rebound, pass or defend particularly well, at least not yet, but he should score. He averaged 17.1 points in nine April games. His presence could push Richmond out first.

What they need: What MJ really needs is to convince a team, like Vancouver did with Austin, to take Richmond, Howard and Strickland. The Wiz will be bad for a few more years regardless, so at least play some kids and hope for miracles. Each member of Washington's big three is past his prime, and would have value on other teams. For example, the Knicks, who drafted Strickland, know full well he's a pain in the butt, but they need a point guard. A motivated Strickland could definitely fight for the lead the league in assists. A number of teams would like to have Howard, who, when motivated, can give you 20 and eight boards every night, along with solid passing skills for a forward. And Richmond, who has battled knee problems, remains capable of huge scoring nights. He gets to the line a lot and is among the league leaders in percentage.

Assuming these three guys are staying put, the Wiz will add White and Smith, the only rebounders on a poor rebounding team, to the starting lineup, and try to work Hamilton into more minutes. Each of the four players acquired from Vancouver in Jordan's first trade -- Dennis Scott, Cherokee Parks, Obinna Ekezie and Felipe Lopez -- should stick. Scott will likely replace Murray, the very unhappy, one-dimensional shooter who has demanded a trade, but says "it's nothing personal with Washington. I just hope they accommodate me." Scott is a few years removed from good play, but does still launch threes at a startling pace.

Parks and Ekezie, the latter a Maryland product who projects to be a rebounding power forward, will come off the bench and add size. Ekezie joins college pal Laron Profit (what is it with the Wiz acquiring local college talent? Where's Yinka Dare these days, anyway?) on the pine. Lopez did average 9.3 points a game two seasons ago, so he still has a chance. For the record, this foursome is better than the four players sent to Orlando to get Austin -- Terry Davis, Tim Legler, Jeff McInnis and Ben Wallace.

What the Wiz need the most -- other than some genius to take salary off MJ's hands -- is for MJ himself to get this team to play harder and think about winning some games. Talent-wise, the Wizards aren't horrible. The big three aren't far removed from their primes, and Hamilton should have game.

Two other new people are coach Leonard Hamilton, who comes from Miami (Fla.), and the club's lone draft pick, Michael Smith, from Louisiana-Monroe. Don't confuse this guy with current Wiz forward Michael Smith, who has a totally different game. (By the way, how are the Wizards going to differentiate these guys? With a middle initial?) Anyway, Smith the rookie averaged 20 points a game and was 15th in the nation in rebounds at 9.4. So he's got college game. Of course, that was the Southland conference. But in Washington's practices, it might be hard to tell the difference. And if you're wondering why this horrible Wizards team didn't have a draft pick until No. 35, it all goes back to the Chris Webber deal. That set the franchise back a lot of years.

What the plan is: First, a few thoughts. Jordan did speak to the Knicks about sending Howard to New York for Patrick Ewing. That's not happening. Also, the Wizards weren't desperate for the players they got from Vancouver, but they were desperate to unload Austin. Murray will likely be next. Already gone this offseason via free agency are Aaron Williams (Nets) and Don Reid (Magic), while White, Whitney and Profit were re-signed.

The rest is up to Jordan and coach Hamilton. Can these guys convince Howard and Strickland to play hard, to play through the minor injuries, to show up to practice and, at worst, be a good influence on the young guys? Because on paper, the Wizards shouldn't be losing 53 games. If Richmond scores 20 a night, Howard and Strickland combine for, say, 31 or 32, the rebounders find a way to rebound and Hamilton gets better, the Wiz should win some games.

The Wizards are one player away, but that player is running the team. You can't figure that Jordan will be happy to see another seven-game losing streak in the first two weeks of the season, which Washington did last year. This is MJ's first full season and it's unfair to judge him until it's over. Rest assured, he will be judged.

Direction heading: It should be up, even if it's only a few wins, but it's no guarantee. If forced to pick a number, we'll say 33 wins, which still stinks but is a few more than last year. Good luck, Michael. You will need it.