1. This has obviously been a frustrating season for Wizards fans so far. What has been the biggest cause of their downfall?

Wizznutzz.com: This season has been a perfect storm for the Wizards. First, the injuries have been huge, especially to Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood. Losing those guys at the start of the season was like a plane taking a double bird strike. The team lost all thrust on takeoff and we all just hoped Grunfeld and Co. could bring it down safely with no further damage. But Grunfeld is clearly no Sullenberger, and has crashed this baby right into the Verizon Center! Gilbert's injury is especially troubling. There is much mystery surrounding his latest setback. There is even a rumor floating about that Gilbert has polio, and that the league has agreed to only film him from the waste up so that fans won't notice the unsightly metal braces on his legs. Second, a coaching change. Third, the trading away of veteran Antonio Daniels. Fourth, this team is young. How young? They are the only team in the NBA that requires signed permission slips from its player for road games! The Wizards have the rookie JaVale McGee and four sophomores in Young, Pecherov, Crittendon and McGuire. And then there is Andray Blatche, who is in his fourth year, but sometimes seems the youngest of the bunch. We call Andray "Buttons" because he seems to be actually aging backwards. And finally, letting Roger Mason leave. Mason is exactly the player the Wizards need on this roster: a legitimate threat off the bench, who plays defense, takes care of the ball, and, as he is proving night after night in San Antonio, comes up clutch when the game is on the line. The Wizards could have re-signed Mason, but owner Abe Pollin has made it clear he refuses to pay the luxury tax. If you ever had the displeasure of attending Bullets games at the old Capital Centre, then you know that Abe Pollin has waged a life-long war against "luxury". He is the only active owner who lives solely off of his NBA per diem.

2. With the trade deadline only a few weeks away, do you see the Wizards being active?

Wizznutzz.com: Ernie Grunfeld claims the team won't be making any moves. But we did a post recently that explores some unusual trades that work under salary cap rules, including trading Etan Thomas to ourselves, swapping Oleksiy Pecherov to Dynamo Moscow for a live lion, and a 3-team broadcaster deal that would bring us Walter "Clyde" Frazier and Don Rickles.

3. The Wizards have only one rookie this year, Javale McGee. How has he performed? Do you see him as a fixture in the rotation in the future?

Wizznutzz.com: The fans love JaVale McGee. Everyone around here hopes he will develop into the first coming of Kwame Brown. The kid obviously has talent. In college he was voted to the 2nd Team All-WAC and the 1st Team MAD magazine Writer's Group. Physically he can be breathtaking to watch. In the same way that a giraffe in the desperate grip of rabies is breathtaking to watch. He is tall, with a game-changing wingspan. But he is also young. On his NBA bio page, under "Book I Read Recently," he lists "Goodnight Moon" and he says he hopes to "own a Quidditch team" after he retires. Hopefully he can mature into a player like Tyson Chandler. The only problem with players this raw, is how long this might take, and when they do arrive, if it's in another city.

4. Does Gilbert Arenas' entertainment value make up for the fact that he's always injured?

Wizznutzz.com: Gilbert is the game's biggest character. He's a shameless scene stealer, a clown, a Mad Hatter, and a true eccentric. He is the NBA's comic relief for the new media age. He has taken his antics online, to blogs, YouTube, MySpace and made himself a national personality almost over night. The fans love it. We have lived through a lot of losing over the past few decades. We don't need a perennial powerhouse. We just want a winning season and a few good laughs along the way. And the team's ownership knows this. When they gave Gilbert the max contract last year, trust me, it wasn't just for his basketball services. Many of those millions were earmarked for pork. Personality pork: the halftime trampolines, the impromptu paintball battles, the talcum donuts, the dogs on treadmills. The only problem is, people don't find the joke so funny when the guy cracking it is in street clothes and his team is headed for the lottery. And Gilbert knows this, because while there is no one who takes basketball less seriously than Gilbert, there is also no one who takes it more seriously. And so as his injuries drag into a second straight year, Gilbert has imposed a gag order himself. So now we need him back on the court more than ever, so we can again enjoy his performances off it.

5. Give me a best case/worst case scenario for the Wizards franchise over the next few years.

Wizznutzz.com: Best case: Wizards land the #1 pick in the draft, we finally get healthy, a few of our young kids develop into reliable contributors, Barack Obama is hired to coach the team, and Sports Illustrated reports that Antawn Jamison lied about his age to get into college and is in fact only 25 years old.

Worse case: our young kids are busts, we re-sign Etan Thomas to a 10-year contract extension, Gilbert's body rejects the baboon tendons that were surgically implanted in his knee, Abe Pollin sells the team to Tyrone Nesby, and a mass grave is discovered in backyard of mascot G-Wiz.