Wizards Looking To Cement Roster

Season Opener Is One Week Away

The Washington Wizards plan to carry a full 17-man roster into Friday night's preseason finale at Indiana. Teams have until 6 p.m. Monday to establish a 15-man regular season roster, and an assortment of minor injuries means that Coach Eddie Jordan won't make any moves before the weekend.

The two players who could be on the outside looking in are forward Awvee Storey and guard Billy Thomas, but they have at least one more game to make an impression.

The team will have the option of sending second-year center Peter John Ramos, second-year forward Hiram Fuller and rookies Andray Blatche and Donell Taylor to the NBA's Developmental League.

Guard Gilbert Arenas, whose right eye was scratched during a game against the Denver Nuggets in Los Angeles on Friday and who missed Sunday's game at Houston, did not practice yesterday and visited a doctor. Arenas may play Friday night.

"He still has a little redness in the eye, so he had it looked at but he's going to be fine," Jordan said.

Guard Antonio Daniels sat out of practice yesterday so he could rest an ankle that has bothered him since he rolled it during practice on Oct. 14. Storey, who missed Sunday's game with a hamstring pull, also was limited.

Guard Jarvis Hayes, who has missed the last five games with knee soreness after a strong performance against San Antonio on Oct. 13, has been limited to shooting drills and will not play Friday night.

"We're monitoring him, we're being very patient with him," Jordan said of Hayes, who missed the second half of last season with a fractured right patella. "We want him to rest now so he can go for a longer length of time. We know that if we put him out there too early, we think that it's going to be a hampering, lingering kind of thing. We want to really rest it while we have the luxury to do that."

Despite the setback, Hayes has been in good spirits and is aiming to be ready in time for the Nov. 2 season opener at Toronto, but Jordan would like to see him go full speed in practice before putting him out on the court in a game situation.

"We're hoping he can get a few practices under his belt so he can get some rhythm and some game feel going a little bit," Jordan said.

While the Wizards are not overly concerned about their 2-5 preseason record -- the team finished 3-5 last preseason before going 45-37 when the games counted -- the run of nagging injuries means that the team's core players are still developing on-court chemistry as the regular season approaches.

For example, Arenas and Caron Butler -- the two leading scorers during the preseason -- have played together in only three games.