By Ivan Carter
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 9, 2006

The Washington Wizards officially said goodbye to the 2005-06 season yesterday as players took turns sitting down for meetings with Coach Eddie Jordan and President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld.

After finishing the regular season with a 42-40 record and losing a first-round playoff series to the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games, the Wizards face crucial decisions this offseason.

Consecutive winning seasons, back-to-back playoff appearances and the continued growth of all-star guard Gilbert Arenas have given Wizards fans hope after years of losing and controversy, but that contentment could turn to frustration if the Wizards don't take the next step by advancing deeper in the playoffs.

One of the key issues this summer will be the status of Jordan, who has one season remaining on the four-year contract he signed in June 2003.

Jordan, who has posted a regular season record of 112-134 in three seasons while leading the Wizards to consecutive playoff berths for the first time since 1988, is seeking a contract extension.

His current contract was handled by owner Abe Pollin. Grunfeld, who was hired shortly after Jordan, has yet to speak with Jordan about an extension.

"I'm not nervous," Jordan said. "I had a four-year contract to deal with and that's what I'm working on. It's going to be up to Mr. Pollin and Ernie after that."

Jordan expressed a desire to see the team retain guard-forward Jared Jeffries, who will be a restricted free agent, and Jordan stressed how important this summer will be for the team's two rookies, forward Andray Blatche and guard Donell Taylor.

After missing training camp and the preseason with wounds he suffered in a Sept. 25 shooting, Blatche appeared in 29 games. The 6-foot-11 Blatche averaged 2.2 points and 1.3 rebounds in 6.1 minutes.

Blatche occasionally flashed the tremendous ballhandling, shooting and scoring skills that allowed him to go to the NBA after one season at a prep school, but was unable to carve out a place in Jordan's rotation.

"First of all, it's strength and conditioning," Jordan said. "Getting his body in shape because he does have a high skill level; but that skill level drops like a rock in a pond if he doesn't maintain some kind of endurance and get stronger. We want him to continue working at being a pro, knowing that this is the most crucial time of his career."

The team's "core players," as Jordan calls them, are under contract for next season. Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler formed the league's highest-scoring trio, and Antonio Daniels developed into a key player off the bench. Still, the Wizards lacked consistent inside scoring, ranked 21st in the league in scoring defense and had limited depth.

Grunfeld has added a key piece to the roster each summer and will no doubt look to make more improvements this offseason. In 2003, Grunfeld signed Arenas to a six-year, $64 million contract, and after a 25-win season in 2003-2004, Grunfeld acquired Jamison from Dallas for Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner and the No. 5 pick in the 2004 draft.

Last summer, Grunfeld acquired Butler and Chucky Atkins for Kwame Brown. Things didn't work out with Atkins, who played poorly early in the season and negotiated a buyout in January, but Butler had the best statistical season of his career.

The team's most glaring need is for an inside player who can provide a scoring option from the low post while rebounding and clogging the lane defensively.

Milwaukee could be looking to trade center Jamaal Magloire, Denver may be interested in trading power forward Kenyon Martin and a thin free agent market will include players such as Detroit center Ben Wallace and Atlanta forward Al Harrington.

Some of the current Wizards expressed a desire to maintain as much continuity as possible heading into next season.

"I like what we have," Jamison said. "We have the pieces to get it done. We need to improve defensively. We don't have to be in the top five defensively. If we just hold teams in the mid 90s, the way we can score the ball, we can be around 55 wins.

"Talent-wise, we can compete and we showed that against some of the better teams. The more we play together, the more consistent we will be as a team."

Wizards Notes: The Wizards hold the 18th overall pick (first round) and the 48th overall pick (second round) in the June 28 draft. The team did not have a first-round pick last year and took Blatche in the second round with the 49th overall pick.