How Can the Washington Wizards Improve to Contender Status?

Last night I was listening to an interview with former NBA head coach P.J. Carlesimo on 106.7 The Fan.  He was commenting on the opening days of the NBA regular season, specifically about the Eastern Conference and his thoughts on who were the better teams.  Not surprisingly he named the top three teams as the “factors,” those being Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando.  He said that there are not any teams even close to those three but on the outside looking in is the Washington Wizards.  The Wizards were the only team he mentioned as the fourth best team and he said this about three times.  These comments got me thinking about what the Wizards need to do this regular season to take the next step and breach that label, in what areas can they improve to develop into the fourth Eastern Conference power? 
First of all, this piece is not in discussion of anything to do with the playoffs, I am not assuming that the Wizards are clearly the fourth best team or that they will even make the playoffs at all.  What I am saying is that the Wiz are in that second tier bunch that follows the top three, which in my opinion also includes the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, and the Philadelphia 76’ers (3^rd tier: MIA, CHI, NJ, DET).  Carlesimo added that this is the way the East is presently, that come December we could be talking about another team that has emerged or perhaps a top team will regress and make way for one that is on the brink.  We know that this is Gilbert Arenas’ team but what pieces need to fall into place for Washington to make that jump?  I offer several possibilities, some more plausible than others for how the Wizards can materialize into a contender:

I guess the most logical way the Wizards will become a factor in the East is for them to improve drastically on the defensive end.  The criticism of the Wizards in the Grunfeld era is that they have been soft on defense and have played with an offensive identity.  They have traditionally scored lots of points, while giving up lots of points and high field goal percentages at the same time.  It is generally the better defensive teams that do well in the playoffs.  Teams like the Phoenix Suns of a few years ago would do great in the regular season and then be shut down when they play a legitimate team like the San Antonio Spurs.  If you look at the Eastern Conference powers, each of them is solid on the defensive end.  Both Orlando and Boston have made the finals in the last two years being anchored by a Defensive Player of the Year.  Cleveland under Mike Brown (at least for now) have built their success around making stops at the end of the game. 
Tuesday night against the Dallas Mavericks was a good start as the Wiz held them to 39% shooting.  This was probably more a result of Dallas just being flat on opening night but it was an encouraging sign nonetheless.  Flip Saunders got solid defensive performances out of his players, specifically his big men as Oberto stood out, Haywood played very well, and Andray Blatche pitched in for 7 boards, 2 blocks, and a steal.  This ideal is much easier said and done because it will take a collective effort for the Wizards to emerge defensively.

Another way for the Wizards to be better than predicted is for a player to emerge as a star.  There are two players that have that capability, Randy Foye and Andray Blatche.  Foye was brought over from the Minnesota Timberwolves after a disappointing start to a career for a 4^th overall pick.  Even though his scoring averages have improved each season the T-Wolves grew impatient and decided they wanted more of a true point guard.  Last season he averaged 16.3 points per game and showed signs of a budding star.  One thing that the Wizards have working in their favor is the propensity for on-the-brink players to blossom while in Washington.  Ernie Grunfeld seems to have an eye for players that are close to reaching their potential and always seems to get guys to have their best years in D.C. (see Gil Arenas, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Larry Hughes, even Jared Jeffries).  This of course could have been a testament to Eddie Jordan but Randy Foye seems to be a perfect candidate for that type of progression. 
Andray Blatche stepped up quite admirably Tuesday night as he was delegated the task of making up for Jamison.  He filled in with spectacular stats, finishing with 20 points and 7 rebounds.  Perhaps more impressive was his demeanor on the court.  106.7’s Glenn Consor remarked that he seemed to be approaching the game differently, he appeared more serious and focused in the game.  If Blatche were to be the player he can be the Wizards would drastically improve. I know I harp on this in every blog post but if Mr. 7 days-a-week could turn the corner the Wiz could be a scary match-up, particularly if he becomes more consistent on the defensive end. 

One other way the Wizards can take a top-3 team’s spot is if Dwight Howard or Lebron James gets injured.  This is not something that should be rooted for but a realistic possibility.  Hey, it happened to the Wizards’ superstar player two years in a row.  Both Cleveland and Orlando are a joke when it comes to depth, if they were to lose their star players they would be lucky to make the playoffs.  I’m not saying that it is likely or that it’s a best case scenario for the Wizards but if it were to happen then those teams would surely fall. 
If that were to happen, however, the Wizards would still eventually run into a better team in the playoffs as I see no one challenging the Boston Celtics this year.  But for now, while the NBA season is still nascent, it only makes sense to focus on the little steps the Wizards can take to improve as a basketball team.