Wizards Show It's Not a Rebuilding Year, Adjust Expectations Accordingly

The Washington Wizards opened the 2009-10 season on the road with a 102-91 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Arenas had 29 points and nine assists in his long awaited return to action. Not only were his stats good, he looked good. He felt so good he didn't even wear a brace and said afterwards that he felt fine. Starting with a road win against a Dallas team that is hoping to compete in the west is a great way to start the season. This means the expectations for this team are about to sky rocket.

With Gilbert Arenas in the line up, the Wizards have proven themselves to be competitive. The problem is, he's never in. After playing a grand total of 15 games in the last two season combined, the Wizards saw themselves plummet in the standings finishing with a 19-63 record tying a franchise record for worst season. For a team to finish so low last season, why would expectations be so high? Arenas' "healthy" knee is one reason. For a player being paid hundreds of millions of dollars who has not really played for two years, there is pressure for him to perform. If he so much as stubs his toe, people may be questioning whether he can lead this team in the future. No point in paying a player that much money if you can never rely on him to play.

Pressure will also be high because of offseason moves. The Wizards traded their number five pick to the Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. This is not the kind of move a rebuilding team makes. It is clear the Wizards were setting up for a competitive 2009-10 campaign by building a team around their star player who they assumed would be healthy this year. Because of this, they don't get a pass that rebuilding teams usually enjoy. Look at the LA Clippers. Nobody expects much from them this season, but things are different for the Wizards.

While the Wizards may have only won one game, it already justifies some of the growing expectations for the Arenas led Wizards heading into a brand new season.