Ranking the 7 worst Wizards starters of the Gilbert Arenas era
By Cem Yolbulan
No. 4: Jarvis Hayes
Another dominant college scorer who was drafted in the first round by the Washington Wizards but couldn’t meet expectations was Jarvis Hayes. Similar to Juan Dixon, Hayes was an older rookie widely expected to be a great scorer in the NBA when he was drafted with the 10th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.
Instead, Hayes struggled immensely with efficiency in his four seasons with the Wizards. Despite being able to hit his three-pointers at a respectable clip of 34.1% as a Wizards, Hayes wasn’t able to be effective inside the arc. In the 226 games he played as a Wizard, he only converted 40% of his field goal attempts.
The injuries played a significant part in Hayes’ struggles throughout his career. After suffering a knee injury in his second season, he was never the same player. He struggled with conditioning issues at certain points in his career following the injuries. And despite still having plenty of talent, size, and athleticism, he was out of the NBA by the time he was 28 years old.
Hayes was one of the biggest disappointments of the 2000s for the Washington Wizards. The organization was hoping for Hayes to become the two-way wing player next to Gilbert Arenas for years to come. Instead, they just let him walk and sign with the Detroit Pistons when his rookie contract was up in 2007.