On Monday, Nene returned to Wizards practice as the team is preparing to play the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night. It is not yet clear if Nene will play in the game or take another night off to rest up for playoffs, but seeing that Nene is ready to play is always a good sign.
In Nene’s absence, Drew Gooden has been playing almost as if he were back in his Kansas days during college. The spectacular play by Gooden has given Washington an opportunity to rest Nene without having to risk losing games. When Nene does in fact come back, Gooden’s role will lessen, but he will see more time on the court than he had been earlier in the season because of his productiveness while Nene was out.
With only five games left in the season for the Wizards, it is going to be important to make sure Nene will be ready to go. There are not many bigs in the Eastern Conference that will be able to stop Nene come playoff time, especially if he has fresh legs. Being competitive throughout the season has given Washington a great luxury of being able to rest players for playoffs, something they have not been able to do in years.
