Darius Songaila

Songaila will not light up the score board, box score, credit score, or any kind of score, but he'll put in a few quality minutes for the Wizards this year. He'll likely start the season as the first forward off the bench and could see significant playing time, but his primary responsibility will be to get the ball to the "Big Three."

Things are sure to start smoother this season for Songalia, who is healthy now after missing the first 45 games of his inaugural Wizards' campaign with a back injury. He'll continue to give the Wizards some depth in the frontcourt, where Antawn Jamison does not always match up well against traditional power forwards. His .524 field-goal percentage looks pretty nifty, but he can afford to be choosy with his shots surrounded by so many willing snipers. If 7.6 ppg and 3.6 rpg gets you fired up, Sonagaila is your man. He is however who you'd want to grab in the event of a Jamison injury, though obviously he'd represent a major downgrade in terms of offense.

The addition of Songaila, who averaged 9.2 points and four rebounds while shooting 48.1 percent in 62 games for the Bulls last season, gives the Wizards some much-needed depth in the front court, where Antawn Jamison does not always match up well against traditional power forwards and Michael Ruffin possesses limited upside on offense. When given significant playing time with the Bulls, Songaila demonstrated that he can put up decent numbers, but with so many other options on offense already in place in Washington, it will likely take an injury (specifically to Jamison) or two for him to become a reliable fantasy contributor.

Songaila fell into the Bulls’ lap with the Kings having little cap room due to the addition of Shareef Abdur-Rahim. His first seasons have shown only a glimpse of what he is capable of on the court due to the overcrowded forward spots in Sacramento. Songaila has solid fundamentals and a refined post-game but is somewhat limited athletically, and with Chicago having many forwards as well, his playing time could be limited again. However, the trade of Eddy Curry to the Knicks benefits Songaila, since Tyson Chandler should start at center, meaning that Songaila and Mike Sweetney will compete for minutes at power forward.

As a rookie last season, Songaila did not play enough minutes (13.4 per game) to make a significant impact. In the few games that Songaila started when both Chris Webber and Brad Miller were out, however, we saw that Songaila is capable of putting up solid numbers when given the opportunity. averaging 12.8 points and seven rebounds in the 10 games he played 25 minutes or more. Songaila will be relegated to the bench again this season, but the Kings will make an effort to get him in the game more often in 2004.

What Songaila lacks in athleticism, he makes up for with good fundamentals and a refined post-game. With Lawrence Funderburke out for six months and Chris Webber questionable for the start of the season, it is conceivable that Songaila could begin the year as the Kings' starting power forward. Given the Kings' depth in the post (Webber, Miller, Divac), however, Songaila will not play enough minutes to make a significant impact this season.