The 1999–2000 Washington Wizards season was the 39th season for the Washington Wizards in the National Basketball Association, and their 27th season in Washington, D.C.
Season summary
Off-season The Wizards received the seventh overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Richard Hamilton from the University of Connecticut. During the off-season, the team acquired Isaac Austin from the Orlando Magic, signed free agents Aaron Williams, Michael Smith and second-year forward Gerard King, and hired Gar Heard as their new head coach. In January, retired All-Star guard, and former Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan joined the Wizards as the team's vice president.
Regular season Under Heard and with the addition of Hamilton, Austin, Williams and Smith, the Wizards continued to struggle posting a seven-game losing streak in November, losing seven of their first eight games of the regular season, and later on holding a 15–34 record at the All-Star break. Heard was fired as head coach after a 14–30 start to the season, and was replaced with Darrell Walker, while the team signed free agent Don Reid, who was previously released by the Detroit Pistons. Despite posting a solid 10–7 record in March, the Wizards finished in last place in the Atlantic Division with a 29–53 record.
Mitch Richmond averaged 17.4 points and 1.5 steals per game, while Juwan Howard averaged 14.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, and Rod Strickland provided the team with 12.6 points, 7.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game. In addition, off the bench, sixth man Tracy Murray contributed 10.2 points per game and led the Wizards with 113 three-point field goals, while Hamilton contributed 9.0 points per game, and Chris Whitney provided with 7.8 points and 3.8 assists per game. On the defensive side, second-year center Jahidi White averaged 7.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, while Williams provided with 7.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game off the bench, Smith contributed 6.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, but only played just 46 games due to an elbow injury, and King averaged 5.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at The Arena in Oakland in Oakland, California, Hamilton participated in the NBA 2Ball Competition, along with Chamique Holdsclaw of the WNBA's Washington Mystics. The Wizards finished 21st in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 616,593 at the MCI Center during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, Austin was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies, while Murray was traded to the Denver Nuggets, Williams signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets, Reid signed with the Orlando Magic, and Walker was fired as head coach.
Offseason
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 7 Richard Hamilton SG Connecticut 2 35 Calvin Booth C Penn State
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot
Game log
Player statistics
Regular season PlayerC 59 23 1,173 282 74 17 38 397 19.9 4.8 1.3 .3 .6 6.7C 11 0 143 32 7 3 14 42 13.0 2.9 .6 .3 1.3 3.8SG 71 12 1,373 129 108 28 6 639 19.3 1.8 1.5 .4 .1 9.0PF82 82 2,909 470 247 67 21 1,220 35.5 5.7 3.0 .8 .3 14.9PG 36 0 243 41 32 12 2 41 6.8 1.1 .9 .3 .1 1.1SF 62 28 1,060 250 49 34 15 327 17.1 4.0 .8 .5 .2 5.3SF 80 8 1,831 271 72 45 24 813 22.9 3.4 .9 .6 .3 10.2SG 33 1 225 26 25 7 4 49 6.8 .8 .8 .2 .1 1.5†PF 17 0 333 77 10 19 19 109 19.6 4.5 .6 1.1 1.1 6.4SG 74 69 2,397 213 185 110 13 1,285 32.4 2.9 2.5 1.5 .2 17.4SF 46 46 1,145 331 56 27 23 289 24.9 7.2 1.2 .6 .5 6.3PG 69 67 2,188 259 519 94 18 869 31.7 3.8 7.5 1.4 .3 12.6C 80 59 1,537 553 15 31 83 569 19.2 6.9 .2 .4 1.0 7.1PG82 15 1,627 134 313 55 5 642 19.8 1.6 3.8 .7 .1 7.8PF 81 0 1,545 409 58 41 92 616 19.1 5.0 .7 .5 1.1 7.6PF 8 0 76 25 1 3 6 14 9.5 3.1 .1 .4 .8 1.8
Player statistics citation:
References