Wizards Watch as Free Agency Begins

The NBA free agent negotiation period begins at midnight but the Washington Wizards aren't expected to be much of a player from the outset. As Coach Flip Saunders said last week at the news conference to introduce Randy Foye and Mike Miller, the Wizards will add the equivalent of five free agents next season with the acquisitions of Foye and Miller and the return of injured players Gilbert Arenas, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson. The Wizards currently have access to the midlevel exception ($5.6 million) and the bi-annual exception ($1.99 million), but any spending this summer will have to take their high payroll into account. Entering the free agent period, they currently have the third-highest payroll going into next season at around $75.8 million. The Wizards trail only the New Orleans Hornets and the Los Angeles Lakers (who are surely going to top the list if they sign Lamar Odom, (link)