Former Washington Wizards (Where Are They Now?): Players From the Gilbert Arenas Era
For most Washington Wizards fans, the Gilbert Arenas teams of the mid-2000s take on a greater significance than they probably should. They never won more than 45 games and claimed only one playoff series victory, but for many of us, that era of Wizards history was the first slightly successful period that we had ever experienced.
The Wizards’ run of four straight postseason appearances ended in 2008, nearly seven years ago – a lot longer according to basketball standards than to normal human standards.
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Many of the players who played for Eddie Jordan are done.
But while Antawn Jamison is a Los Angeles Lakers pregame show analyst and Gilbert Arenas, still rolling in Ernie Grunfeld money, is a professional man of Instagram leisure, some of the old Washington Wizards from this exciting, doomed period of DC basketball history are still kicking on the world basketball circuit.
In fact, two of our old starters are still in the NBA.
Caron Butler was once Tuff Juice, the Wizards’ slam-dunking, pocket-picking, full-court-shot-making, do-everything All-Star swingman – today, at 34, he’s the elder statesman for a Detroit Pistons team that is playing some darn good basketball after being freed from the chaotic influence of Josh Smith. Butler is a shell of the phenomenal player he once was, but he’s still a rotation player, averaging about six points and three rebounds in about 23 minutes a game.
Butler even featured in the postseason for Oklahoma City last year, most notably displaying a corny “phone call” celebration after one or two big shots. The days of Tuff Juice are long gone, but Caron Butler can still provide a scoring punch off the bench every now and then, and his free throw percentage ranks in the top 10 in the NBA – remember the time he made 73 straight?
Meanwhile, Brendan Haywood’s post-Wizards career has been a roller coaster on several levels.
Towards the end of his long career in DC, Haywood finally reached a form that I thought placed him among the better centers in the NBA, and Mark Cuban agreed. After the 2010 season saw him, Butler and DeShawn Stevenson traded to Dallas, the Mavericks made a deal they’re still regretting – a six-year, $55 million contract that he never lived up to, and that the Mavs are still paying off.
Haywood played spot duty as the Mavericks won the NBA title in 2011, and was amnestied the next year. Haywood spent 2012-13 with a 21-win Bobcats team, missed the 2013-14 season with a foot injury, and then things got even weirder!
Haywood somehow managed to snag a roster spot on the Cleveland Cavaliers, the odds-on NBA title favorites – with LeBron James back home, Haywood would be teaming up with the franchise and the player he fought tooth-and-nail (sometimes literally) in days gone by. And then, to all our schadenfreude, injuries began to hit, the Cavaliers began to slide down the Eastern Conference standings, and Brendan Todd Haywood, a 35-year-old man who had not played a competitive game in over a year, suddenly found himself on the court.
Haywood is only averaging 1.9 points and 1.5 rebounds this year, but the big man was pressed into the starting lineup on New Years’ Eve against the Bucks – a team with LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving was instead forced to start Haywood, Mike Miller, and Matthew Dellavedova.
Haywood scored four points and grabbed five rebounds in 15 minutes., and the Cavaliers lost by 16. Brendan Haywood may never be an impactful player again, but you can’t say the man hasn’t made the most out of his career. Not many players last this long.
Turn your eyes overseas and you’ll find more former Washington Wizards who once futilely tried to find their shine in Eddie Jordan’s hero-ball offense.
In 2003, the Wizards selected University of Georgia swingman Jarvis Hayes with the 10th overall pick – he lasted seven years in the league, four with DC. After two seasons with the Nets, Hayes decided to go the international route, playing in Israel, Turkey, Russia and Italy.
Today he plies his trade with Asesoft Ploiesti in the Romanian Liga Nationala, teaming up with another former Wizard, point guard Dee Brown.
Hayes averages just under nine points a game for Asesoft, the traditional power of Romanian club basketball, around what he did in the NBA – the only logical conclusion is that Romanian basketball is completely and totally on par with America. That, or he’s 33 years old.
Hayes has also obtained dual citizenship with the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar, and starred for the team as they reached the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Championship in 2013. Hayes’ days on the NBA hardwood are over, but he might have plenty of battles with bright-eyed young Filipino forward Andray Blatche to come.
2007 second-round pick Dominic McGuire, who spent about two and a half seasons with Washington, managed to carve out a six-year NBA career despite minimal real talent.
I remember him very fondly – he always seemed to be the only player on the Wizards to actually care about playing defense, which along with his hustle was the reason he stayed in the league. After being traded to Sacramento in February of 2010, McGuire bounced around the NBA, playing stints with Charlotte, Golden State, Toronto, New Orleans and Indiana.
Overachieving as always, McGuire has found a nice home in the Israeli league, averaging 16 points and 8 rebounds for a decent Hapoel Holon team. Hardcore basketball fans might remember a couple of his teammates: Jordan Taylor, a second-team All-American in his days as Wisconsin’s point guard, and Tony Crocker, a bouncy shooting guard who was a four-year starter alongside Blake Griffin at Oklahoma.
Finally, there’s Darius.
Known for getting suspended in the 2008 playoffs for almost hitting LeBron James in the face, Darius Songaila spent three seasons as a big part of the Washington Wizards’ bench, providing a nice mid-range jumpshot and alright rebounding – sort of a poor man’s Kris Humphries, but without the bounce.
A Lithuanian native who moved to America at age 19, Songaila has gone back home after an eight-year NBA career to live out his basketball twilight years with traditional European power Zalgiris Kaunas.
Songaila has played in Turkey with Galatasaray and in Spain with Valladolid since the end of his NBA days, but at 36 years old, one expects that Songaila might finish his career with Zalgiris.
A regular starter, Songaila averages his customary eight points and three rebounds for Zalgiris – who also employ former NBA guards Will Cherry and James Anderson – and has also contributed to Zalgiris’ so-far-successful Euroleague campaign. Who knows? If all goes well, he might run into Jan Vesely and Fenerbahçe in the later rounds.
Of the five aforementioned ex-Wizards, Songaila has the best chance of grasping the glory he never had a chance at in DC. Zalgiris has already won a European championship – in 1999, when former UCLA star Tyus Edney led them to victory – and they look a sure bet to win the Lithuanian league title this season. The team of the legendary Arvydas Sabonis, Zalgiris has a tradition of excellence that dates back decades.
The same can’t quite be said for Asesoft Ploiesti, or Hapoel Holon, or the Cleveland Cavaliers. But hey, it beats working all day. And it beats getting your dreams crushed by LeBron every year. Go make us proud, Darius, Jarvis, Dominic, Tuff Juice and Brendan.
We remember.