Before the trade deadline, before the term starter was placed in front of his name and before Mike Wilbon said he was playing like the next Kevin Garnett, Andray Blatche was on notice as a literary subject for Backboard’s Shadow. (Not to toot my own horn.)  He’s always had the skill set to be a difference maker, but as Celtics broadcaster Mike Gorman stated Sunday night before Washington blew a winnable game in Boston, Blatche has the type of talent that’ll keep both teams in the game.  He takes bad shots; tends to loaf around the court and sulk when things aren’t going just so.  But since the all-star break, he’s been showcasing himself as a seriously skilled big man, one who’s certainly going to be in the Wizards future plans.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. In a year that was supposed to be a healthy bounce back from last season’s embarrassing, injury riddled campaign, the Washington Wizards have been in the headlines this season for all the wrong reasons. A sketchy incident involving several firearms and immature inner-locker room quarrels cast a dark shadow over the franchise.  The aftermath was the franchise player’s season coming to an abrupt end and the other two mainstays getting shipped far, far away to teams that have an actual shot at playing meaningful basketball in the spring.

Blatche has decided in his fifth season at just 23 years old, that this was the time to breakout.

Throughout his career he’s shown brief indications of a prodigious gift.  He’s 6’ 11”  with outside touch, something that makes professional scouts drool.  A little over a week ago he scored a career high 36 points to go along with 15 rebounds against the New Jersey Nets.  A week before that he went on an offensive barrage versus the Timberwolves, netting 33 points with 13 boards .  In between those two notable performances was 26 points and 18 rebounds in an overtime loss to the Knicks.  In that game he let it all pour out.  51 minutes of hustle when the next highest contributor was Randy Foye who logged 40 minutes.  It was the type of performance an all-star gives his team on a nightly basis and is indicative of what Blatche is capable of.

Since replacing Jamison and Haywood as a centerpiece in Washington’s front court, Blatche has been sublime.  Upon returning from the all-star break, he’s started in all 10 games on the schedule, averaging 24 points, just over 10 rebounds and three assists per game.  Not only is his 18-footer gaining respect around the league, but his entire offensive game is on the cusp of something special.  He’s so young and so talented with skills and dimensions that could have him replacing Arenas as Washington’s go-to scorer (should the franchise man return next year).  It seems like nothing can stop him.  Nothing, except of course, but himself.

Before this season began, Blatche embodied a major reason why the NBA changed its high school entry rules for the draft.  The Kwame Browns, the Eddy Currys, the Jonathan Benders of the basketball world were bogging down the overall level of play with immaturity and unfulfilled promise.  They lacked fundamentals, they lacked any sort of on-court IQ and they lacked a responsibility to perform for the franchises signing the million dollar checks.

As a 21-year-old, three-year veteran, Blatche was a thoughtless millionaire.  Right after signing his contract extension, he tried to solicit sex from an undercover police officer. He was later arrested on June 4, 2008 in Virginia on charges of reckless driving and driving on a suspended license for the third time.

After a heartbreaking loss in Boston on Sunday night that saw Washington helplessly watch the Celtics go on a 20-4 run to close out the game, Flip Saunders called out Blatche for jawing back and forth with Kevin Garnett in the fourth quarter.  Blatche ended up with 23 points, shooting 50 percent from the field and performed at a nearly unguardable level for long stretches throughout, but it was his waking of a sleeping giant and the casual, unconcerned post-game explanation that make him such a puzzling player.

He has the physical tools to be LaMarcus Aldridge with court vision, but his drive to succeed and his need to dominate are too blasé.  It’s what’s in between his ears that could either hold him back or push him towards excellence and a max contract in a few years.   It’s one of the more intriguing plot lines basketball fans in D.C. have to follow now that the Wizards are officially starting from scratch.

Thabo Sefolosha is a 25-year-old elder statesman.  He speaks three languages, has played professional basketball in four countries and is the George Washington of Swiss born NBA players.  Playing on the Oklahoma City Thunder, hands down the most likable team in the league, Sefolosha has comfortably nestled himself beside Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook as a fragment of the team’s burgeoning success.

On this young, charismatic group his job isn’t to tally points.  He doesn’t have plays called for him or have his teammates look to him when the shot clock is winding down. He scores less than the other four starters and rookie sixth man James Harden, he’s smart and like all effective role players knows his limitations. But he’s also loaded with talent and after signing an extremely organizational friendly contract extension at the beginning of the season, is an tremendously underrated piece of the Thunder’s future.

Players like Sefolosha are always needed by championship contenders.  Players who are trusted by their superstar teammate to do what their job is on a nightly basis. That glue guy who goes virtually unnoticed outside of his home city until the spring when they make three or four huge plays in a nationally televised playoff game.  Last season for the Lakers it was Trevor Ariza and in 2008 the Celtics had James Posey.  The Spurs had Bruce Bowen in Duncan’s shadow and Michael Jordan had Paxson during his first title reign.

In his 30 minutes of playing time a night, Sefolosha is a guardian.  A 6’ 7” guard who is paid to make his teammate’s lives easier (Thabo literally means “one who brings joy”) by not only assuming responsibility for the opponent’s most dynamic scorer but on the nights where that isn’t possible, he serves obediently as an effective help defender.  Durant says he’s one of the top three defenders in the game, but don’t take his word for it.

Traded from the Bulls for a first round draft pick at last year’s trade deadline, since coming aboard the Thunder’s team defense has been on the incline (or decline depending on how you look at it).  Last year their defensive rating was 20^th out of 30, right now they’re currently 3^rd. They were 23^rd in opposing points per game, now they’re 7^th. Defensive improvements like this can never be attributed to a single player, but his presence certainly helped.  He sticks superstars so his own doesn’t have to.  The Dwyane Wade’s, the Kobe Bryant’s, the Joe Johnson’s.  They are all his duty while Durant, Green and Westbrook are able to focus on putting the ball in the basket.

Sefolosha’s usage percentage is at a career low 11.1% and his scoring average is the lowest its been since he was a rookie.  That is to say when Oklahoma City is in possession of the basketball, Thabo Sefolosha isn’t asked to do much.  As a matter of fact he probably couldn’t comply if called upon.  His accuracy from deep has uncharacteristically fallen since entering the league. This might be due to the executive voices whispering in his ear that defense is what they pay him to play while jacking up shots will first send him to the bench and then out of town.  Kevin Durant is there to shoot and score.  It’s what he does exceptionally well; it’s his trademark.  Thabo Sefolosha’s is defense.

As far as American professional athletes go, Thabo is a rare breed. He puts his team ahead of himself and is aware of his spot on Oklahoma’s totem pole. He signed an exceptionally generous five year, 15.5 million dollar contract that shows loyalty and sacrifice.  Not to say he would’ve been granted Lebron money, but Sefolosha most likely took a pay cut when deciding to stay with Oklahoma City for such a long period of time. Sefolosha fits splendidly with the Thunder and in two or three years, when they’re knocking on the doors of a championship, expect him to make those three or four crucial plays to help knock that door over.

Every night he finds his usual place on the tip of the bench.  As a nightly back up for two point guards, one who happens to be an all-time great, Mavericks rookie Rodrigue Beaubois is stewing.  As of late his highlight reel abilities have been relegated to garbage time minutes in double digit wins or rare blowout losses and it’s only a matter of time before Beaubois makes his mark.

He’s gleamed with splotches of excellence here and though. Most notably in a mid-November game against Milwaukee just two nights after Brandon Jennings dropped his internationally renowned 55 points on Golden State. Going up against a Dallas squad which was playing on the second night of a back to back, the Bucks rookie went on a tear late in the game, scoring 13 in the fourth and forcing overtime.

Dallas looked sluggish.  They looked, scratch that, they were unable to contain Milwaukee’s point guard.  That was until Rick Carlisle uplifted Beaubois off the bench and told him to stick Jennings.  The Frenchman made it his mission, holding him to just two points the rest of the way as Dallas went on to win.  That defensive performance caused Brandon to tag a label on his fellow rookie that most television analysts and writers have been reserving for himself. Rodrigue Beaubois is the future of the Dallas Mavericks.

When Josh Howard was injured early in the season Roddy got some burn as the starting shooting guard; it allowed him to strictly focus on scoring and concentrate on his own personal production, but that’s not quite what the Mavericks had in mind when they traded their 24^th overall selection—seven-foot Byron Mullens—to Oklahoma City for Beaubois’ rights.

Once it’s time for Jason Kidd’s September song to be sung, it will be Beaubois who carries Mark Cuban’s club in the next decade.  Will he ever develop into a franchise point guard able to make decent players around him good and good ones great? Time will tell on that, but in the near future watch him slowly pick up everyone else’s slack.  Jason Terry is just one of many Mavericks who understand how worthy their rookie can be not only in making a deep playoff run this year, but possibly winning a championship a couple years down the road.

He’s 6’ 2” with a 6’10” wingspan giving him a body destined to roam the perimeters of a basketball court. Athletically speaking, apart from Rondo, there might not be a point guard in the game who can touch him.  The comparisons to Boston’s #9 don’t stop there. Beaubois is in literally a perfect situation that should only get better as he enters the opening few years of his NBA career. Instead of being thrown into a disheartening losing atmosphere, he’s able to bide his time and study with one of the greatest point guards who has ever lived in Jason Kidd.  The two of them watch reportedly watch film daily together, boning up on such important things like how to defend and run a crisp pick and roll and how to see the entire court and be patient enough to let the right option develop in front of you.

If there’s any career path he’d aspire to follow it’d be Rondo’s.  Feed the top dogs for a few years before allowing your natural athletic ability to blossom.  Four years from now, Rodrigue Beaubois could be that breakout all-star. (When asked how he thought his game compared to Rondo, Beaubois responded he was just as good only a better shooter.)

Right now his team has an immediate need for his defensive services and his coach knows it. (In the past couple of weeks point guards have been torching the Mavs with ease.  Most notably Andre Miller’s 52-point performance and Monta Ellis dropping a career best 46.)

On a roster that includes an aging yet still able-bodied Shawn Marion, Rick Carlisle has been quoted as saying, “[Beaubois] brings an element to the game with his body type that we really don’t have anywhere else on our roster.” It’s impressive praise for a player who should be seeing more and more minutes as the season progresses.

Whenever Kidd chooses to hurl his kicks over the proverbial telephone wire, Beaubois will likely have come into his own. A young, quick, unguardable point guard who finds himself complimented by two or three seriously skilled players while also understanding it is he who is most valuable for the team.  All things run through him and he runs all things.