Wizards' forward Dominic McGuire claims he worked very hard this summer, and Coach Eddie Jordan likes what he sees.

"He is almost a different player (than last season). He understands what we are doing. He understands his role and he is playing at a very high level. You can see the seriousness in him," Jordan said. "We saw his improvement in summer league and he has been on pace to improve from the end of the last season until summer league. We now see his improvement from summer league to the beginning of training camp."

McGuire averaged 1.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 70 games for the Wizards last season. He was drafted by Washington with the 47th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

"I have been working hard. I started going to the gym to workout two times a day this summer. I have been focused and have been working on what the coaching staff told me to work on during our exit meetings last season," McGuire said Sunday. "They told me I needed to work on my mid-range game and to be more professional. I think those are the biggest things that are showing now."

He also claims it has helped that he's going against a player like Caron Butler in practice.

"It helps me a lot," McGuire added. "I am going against an All-Star everyday on the offensive and defensive end. You can?t help but get better. He shows me a lot off of the court as well. I also try to take things from Antawn. I watch his professionalism and how he handles himself off the court."

Wizards' center Etan Thomas says the process of recovering from open-heart surgery is almost complete.

"It started with just walking," said Thomas. "Just getting up and taking a little walk around this little track they had at the hospital. I'd walk around maybe twice and I'd be exhausted for the day. Not tired. Exhausted. Wiped out. There would be older people out there doing the walking too, and they were whizzing by me. I was like: 'Man, I'm doing bad.' "

Thomas missed all of last season after undergoing surgery last October to replace a leak in his aortic valve.

Almost one year later, Thomas took the court for the Wizards for the start of training camp. He was seen running at full speed and bumping bodies with teammate Brendan Haywood.

"I felt good, real good," Thomas said. "It was just fun to get back out there and play again. Everything's going great so far."

Gilbert Arenas claims that he didn't speak during the team's media day on Friday because he didn't want to take the attention away from his healthy teammates.

"I felt that training camp, I wasn't going to be involved, playing and going out there practicing, so I shouldn't be grabbing all the spotlight," Arenas said.

For the third time in seventeen months, Arenas is rehabbing his left knee.

"If I'm sitting here grabbing up all the attention and there's people healthy, that starts to weigh on people, so I figure if I back out of it, let them get the attention, then everything is cool peace," Arenas added.

Gilbert Arenas and the Washington Wizards were fined $15,000 apiece by the NBA on Friday after the point guard left the team's media day without speaking.

Some of his teammates at the event wondered aloud about when their All-Star point guard would be back on the court.

"I think probably everybody's worried about that. I think Gil's got to be worried about that," center Brendan Haywood said.

Fellow All-Star Antawn Jamison appeared worried as well.

"One thing I'm expecting to happen is that when he comes back, we're going to see Gilbert this year, but we probably won't see Agent Zero until the end of the season," Jamison said, "or maybe towards next year."

Arenas has yet to answer any questions in front of a group of reporters since his $111 million, six-year contract was announced in July.

At Washington's media day, Gilbert Arenas avoided what was supposed to be his first public discussion of last week's knee surgery.

Arenas was the only Wizards player not made available to reporters at the team's arena on Friday.

A Wizards spokesman said Arenas will address the media Saturday, when the team opens training camp in Richmond, Va.

The Wizards still have high expectations this season even though they'll be without point guard Gilbert Arenas for a significant amount of time, according to Associated Press.

"We feel very confident in the players that we have and the way we played last year, the way we shared the ball, moved the ball, played defense and made the playoffs," Coach Eddie Jordan said.

He then added, "But certainly you need a Gilbert Arenas to get to where we want to go -- we certainly want to win an NBA championship."

Washington expects to make the playoffs and hopes to earn home court advantage in the first round, as well.

"We don't have a time frame for when he's going to be back," President Ernie Grunfeld said. "It's a process. We expect him to be back and be an outstanding player in this league. This, for us, is not a two - or three-month proposition. We're looking at the long term here. He's only 26."

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed free agent guard Juan Dixon.  Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.

?Juan is a proven NBA player, and we like what he brings to our team,? said Grunfeld.  ?He is a tough, hard-nosed competitor who can score, and his familiarity with our system is an added plus.?

Dixon (6-3, 165) was originally selected by Washington with the 17th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft out of the University of Maryland, where he led the Terrapins to the NCAA title and captured Most Outstanding Player honors at the 2002 Final Four.  During his first tenure with the Wizards, the Baltimore native averaged 8.2 points and 1.6 assists in 176 games over three seasons (2002-03 through 2004-05).  

?I?m excited to return to the area and to resume my career with the Wizards,? said Dixon.  ?I?m looking forward to the start of training camp and I?m ready to step in and contribute wherever Coach Jordan and the team sees fit.?

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has picked up the option on the contract of Head Coach Eddie Jordan, keeping him under contract through the 2009-10 season.  

Per team policy, financial terms of the contract were not released.  

?Eddie has done an outstanding job and has been instrumental in making us a perennial playoff team, so we are pleased to reward that success by picking up the option on his contract,? said Grunfeld.  ?We are very excited about the upcoming season and feel that this team is ready to progress to another level under Eddie?s leadership.?

Jordan has compiled an overall record of 196-214 (.478) in five seasons as head coach of the Wizards and is currently the third-longest tenured head coach in the NBA behind Jerry Sloan (Utah Jazz) and Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs).  He has led the team to the playoffs the last four seasons (making the Wizards the only Eastern Conference team other than Detroit to do so), compiling a 171-157 (.521) mark during that span.

?I?d like to thank (Wizards Owner) Abe Pollin and Ernie Grunfeld, my assistants and the players for their confidence in me and for putting the pieces in place for us to continue to build on what we?ve already accomplished,? said Jordan.  ?This team has proven it can compete at an elite level, and I have high expectations for what we can achieve moving forward.?

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed free agent forwards DerMarr Johnson, Linton Johnson and Taj McCullough.  Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not released.  

?DerMarr?s experience and versatility, Linton?s athleticism and defensive ability and Taj?s play with our summer league team gives them a chance to compete for a roster spot,? said Grunfeld.  ?We?re looking forward to training camp as an opportunity to evaluate how they might fit into the mix at the small forward position.?

DerMarr Johnson (6-9, 210) is a seven-year veteran who has seen action with the Hawks, Knicks, Nuggets and Spurs.  He holds NBA career averages of 6.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in 136 games.  A Washington DC native, Johnson was originally selected by Atlanta with the sixth overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft following his freshman year at the University of Cincinnati.  He averaged 8.4 points and 3.4 rebounds for the Hawks in 2001-02, but missed the entire 2002-03 season after suffering four cracked vertebra in his neck following a car accident.  He returned to the NBA with New York in 2003-04 and spent the next three seasons (2004-05 through 2006-07) with Denver.  Johnson averaged 3.4 points in five games with San Antonio last season.  

Linton Johnson (6-8, 205) is a five-year veteran who has seen action with the Bulls, Spurs, Nets, Hornets, Raptors and Suns.  He holds NBA career averages of 4.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 141 games after going undrafted out of Tulane University.   Johnson had his best statistical run when he averaged 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds over the final 27 games for New Orleans/Oklahoma City after being acquired in a midseason trade with New Jersey.  Johnson averaged 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds last season in eight games between Toronto and Phoenix.

McCullough (6-7, 227) averaged 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds in five games with the Wizards? entry in the 2008 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.  The rookie out of Winthrop averaged 11.6 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds as a senior last season and helped the Eagles to a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The Wizards? training camp roster now stands at 17 players.  The team will hold camp from September 27-October 3 at the Siegel Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

The Wizards reportedly have interest in free agent guard Juan Dixon as they head into camp, according to Washington Post.

However, the Wizards are only willing to sign Dixon to a non-guaranteed deal worth the veteran's minimum. That means he'd have to come into training camp and make the team in order to earn the money.

Washington has fourteen players under contract. Dixon split the 2007-08 season between the Raptors and Pistons.