By Anthony Cotton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 18, 1994

The chance to move into a new arena in downtown. More wins than losses at this point of the season for the first time in five years. And now the addition of former University of Michigan teammates Chris Webber and Juwan Howard, two of the most compelling young players in basketball.

It's not that the Washington Bullets have been guaranteed the 1994-95 National Basketball Association championship, or even a place in this season's playoffs, but yesterday's whirlwind signing of first-round draft choice Howard and the trade for Webber, the first player selected in last season's NBA draft and subsequently the league's rookie of the year, seemed to dramatically change the fabric of a franchise that for the last decade has toiled in the sport's doldrums while other local teams, especially the Redskins, have won consistently and/or captured championships.

"We've never had anything this big in the 30 years I've owned the team," said Bullets owner Abe Pollin, who in one day guaranteed millions to the two players.

After much acrimony between his representative and the Bullets, Howard, the fifth pick in June's draft, signed an 11-year deal worth $36.6 million. Webber, acquired from the Golden State Warriors for forward Tom Gugliotta and first-round draft choices in 1996, 1998 and 2000, signed a one-year deal worth $2.08 million. Under the terms of their respective deals, both players could possibly leave Washington, Webber after one season and Howard after two, but fans didn't seem very concerned about the future. By 9:30 last night, the Bullets had sold 2,000 tickets during the day for the pair's Bullets debut, Saturday night against the Boston Celtics at USAir Arena. They had also sold another 500 season-ticket plans (either full or partial).

The day's activities reunited two of the mainstays from one of the most exciting college basketball teams in history. As part of a recruiting class immediately nicknamed The Fab Five, Webber and Howard, both 21, led Michigan to the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship game as freshmen. The following spring, the Wolverines returned to the championship game again, losing to North Carolina after Webber, his team trailing by a point in the waning seconds, called for a timeout after Michigan had used its allotment. That resulted in a technical foul and change of possession that helped propel North Carolina to victory.

Webber left Michigan for the NBA shortly thereafter; Howard departed last season after leading the Wolverines to the national quarterfinals.

Whether the pair can take Washington to such lofty heights remains to be seen, but the news of their acquisition alone was enough to inspire grandiose thoughts and relegate Sunday's National Football League game between the Redskins and Dallas Cowboys -- normally one the highlights of any NFL season -- to an afterthought in sports telecasts and newspapers.

"Pollin has the nucleus of a championship team," said Larry Ellman, 42, a telephone executive who was at Mister Day's sports bar and cafe on 19th Street NW. "The only other time he had two stars like this was Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes."

Other fans approved the new acquisitions with some reservation. "Three first-round draft picks is leveraging their future," said Jason Leif, a 25-year-old lawyer who has lived in the area four years and is a graduate of the University of Michigan. "But they finally have {in Webber} a front-line player who will be a franchise player. Gugliotta is good but he is not someone who can carry a team."

The Bullets have fallen on hard times since winning the NBA championship in 1978 and losing in the finals the following season. Washington has not made the playoffs since 1988; it has not won a playoff series since 1982. The following season marked the last time the team had a winning record.

Although attendance has risen in recent seasons, the Bullets' franchise has been lacking, both financially and aesthetically. A recent issue of Financial World magazine said the 27 NBA franchises were worth an average of $99 million each; Washington ranked 21st at $78 million while the Los Angeles Lakers were worth $168 million. Meanwhile, expansion groups in Toronto and Vancouver paid $125 million for franchises that will begin play next season. In an indication of where the team stands with the public, the Bullets ranked in the bottom third in the league in the sale of team merchandise. In 1993-94, those sales totaled $2.85 billion league-wide.

Still, the early stages of this season have brought some good news to the franchise. The Bullets beat the Orlando Magic, one of the favorites to win the NBA championship, on a last-second shot in the Nov. 4 season-opener. The team is in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 4-3 record, its best start in five years.

Pollin recently aligned with the National Capital Development Corporation, a nonprofit consortium of District entrepreneurs, in discussions with the city to build a new 23,000-seat arena at Gallery Place for the Bullets and Washington Capitals, his hockey team. Cable television entrepreneur Robert L. Johnson, has also proposed building an arena downtown and then trying to buy the Bullets and Capitals from Pollin or luring another NBA franchise to Washington. Pollin said he is not interested in selling the teams.

Special correspondent Michael Sandler contributed to this report.