In preparation for their participation in the 2008 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, the Washington Wizards conducted the first of their two-day mini camp at the Verizon Center in Washington DC. Among those participating in the camp were center Etan Thomas, this year’s first round draft pick, forward/center JaVale McGee and Utah Jazz free agent Dee Brown, who was recently signed to an offer sheet. The full mini-camp roster is as follows:
PLAYER HT WT D.O.B. FROM/SCHOOL NBA Experience
Andray Blatche 6-11 248 8/22/86 South Kent Prep (CT) 3
Vytas Danelius 6-9 237 6/17/82 Wake Forest R
Dontaye Draper 5-11 180 8/10/84 Charleston R
Frank Elegar 6-9 225 12/3/86 Drexel R
Gary Forbes 6-7 220 2/25/85 Massachusetts R
Dominic McGuire 6-9 220 10/20/80 Fresno St. 1
Taj McCullough 6-7 227 2/25/86 Winthrop R
JaVale McGee 7-0 237 1/19/88 Nevada R
Oleksiy Pecherov 7-0 234 12/8/85 Ukraine R
Mike Peeples 6-6 205 9/8/85 Fairleigh Dickinson R
Will Thomas 6-7 230 7/1/86 George Mason R
Vladimir Veremeenko 6-10 230 7/21/84 Belarus R
Jonathan Wallace 6-1 188 5/16/86 Georgetown R
Nick Young 6-7 200 6/1/85 USC 1

* The media was allowed to view the final 15 minutes of team drills, which primarily focused on both fast break and secondary fast break options. Coach Eddie Jordan divided the players into groups of five, and each group ran the initial fast break, then they ran the secondary break options, and finally they got into their offense, when someone would take the shot. After each offensive set, Jordan would talk to the players about what they could have done to create better options for themselves or their teammates.

* The only injury suffered during today’s practice was by Oleksiy Pecherov, who seemed to injure his lower leg. Pecherov is expected to participate in Day 2 of the mini-camp, and then next week in Las Vegas.

* Etan Thomas, in only his second full contact workout since being full cleared by doctors, was on the floor and he looked great running the floor and going through low post drills with his younger teammates. Thomas later commented that he would not be joining the remainder of the team in the Vegas Summer League, but it was important for him to come out and get in some contact drills. Second-year players Nick Young and Dominic McGuire, along with third-year player Andray Blatche, also participated in the drills and scrimmages and they will be playing in Vegas.

* At the end of practice, Etan Thomas, JaVale McGee, and roster hopeful Jonathan Wallace spoke about today’s practice and what the future holds for each of them. Look for audio clips to be posted throughout the weekend here on Hoops Addict.