Team Dreamin' 2011: WIZARDS (Bullets)

At No Regard, we love basketball. We love the spectacle and strategy of the game, but sometimes the league's lack of imagination confounds and disappoints us. Call us optimists, visionaries, or kids who watched too much Space Jam, but we have ideas. Damn are we gonna share 'em.

Much to the dismay of many No Regard staffers, the Washington Wizards got the first overall draft pick this year and snatched up star-ready John Wall. Rewind to last December and remember a time where the future was not so bright for basketball in the District. A dark cloud hovered over local superstar Gilbert Arenas and his season-ending suspension for carrying firearms to work. With the loss of veteran sharp-shooter Mike Miller to the Heat, now more than ever, the Wizards need Gil to return to form and dominate offensively alongside the young sensation Wall. How then, can the Wiz make sure Gil feels comfortable returning to play with his teammates after such and ugly incident?

The Wizards can change their name back to the Washington Bullets.

Yes, Abe Pollan, the late Wizards owner, changed the name because of extreme amounts of gun violence in D.C. during the '90s. Yes, Arenas shouldn't have brought guns to the locker room. Yes, he shouldn't have done the gun taunt pictured above after Stern decided to initially not suspend him. And yes, after injuries and aging, who can be sure if Arenas can still ball like he used to.

But think about it, Gil in Gil's prime was ridiculous and could be silly good alongside a young hotshot like Wall. The man who burned hotter than a Hibachi put up 29.4 ppg as a 24-year-old for god's sake. We suspect the superstar inside just needs a little nudge, needs the cage to be opened and the bait to be set, only then will the Agent run wild.  By going back to their roots and re-naming the team the Bullets, the franchise embraces Gil for the very thing that was almost his and their demise. It's actually perfect. The Bullets tell Arenas that they love him just the way he is. He smiles, sheepishly, then grabs his young sidekick and takes off on a campaign to contend for the best backcourt in the NBA.