Dee Brown will be the last guard off the Wizards bench when the NBA season begins this fall. But that doesn’t mean he won’t have a valuable role.
Tonight in Las Vegas, when Washington opens its 2008 Summer League season against Portland, Brown will be in the starting lineup, with a chance to show how his quick hands and quick feet can change a game.
“I lock up. That’s what I try to focus on. The better the opponent is, the better I’m going to play,” said Brown. “I fit the system well because I play hard and I love defense.”
The 6-foot guard signed with the Wizards last week. After an All-America college career at Illinois, where he played in an illustrious backcourt with Deron Williams and Luther Head, Brown struggled as a rookie at Utah in 2006-07, averaging 1.9 points and 1.7 assists in 49 games. Last year Brown played in the Turkish Basketball League, and worked on his game.
“I’m a better shooter, a better point guard, better defender,” said Brown. “I went over there to get better. Now look where I’m at.”
With Gilbert Arenas out most of the season with a knee injury, the Wizards were often overmatched by teams with quick backcourts. Washington surrendered more 3-pointers than any team in NBA history and struggled to generate fast-break opportunities.
“He’s quick and he plays with high energy and that’s something we lacked last year,” said Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld.
Brown will feed to an uncharacteristically experienced summer league team in this week. Last year the Wizards took no players west with significant NBA experience. But this year, veterans Nick Young, Andray Blatche, Dominic McGuire, and Oleksiy Pecherov will make the trip. Pecherov’s status, however, is uncertain after suffering a sprained ankle.
The Wizards will be anxious to see first-round draft choice JaVale McGee, a 7-foot center, and 2006 second-round selection Vladimir Veremeenko, a 6-10 forward, play.
“[Summer league] gives them a head start,” said Grunfeld. “They can run the offense a little. They get to learn the defensive concepts, and they get in shape. After the summer league is over, we will know what things we want them to work on for the rest of the summer.”
