1995–96 Washington Bullets season

1995–96 Washington Bullets season
Rasheed Wallace's rookie season
Head coach	Jim Lynam
Arena	US Airways Arena
Results
Record	39–43 (.476)
Place	Division: 4th (Atlantic) Conference: 10th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	DNQ
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

The 1995-96 NBA season was the Bullets' 35th season in the NBA. In his second season, Juwan Howard emerged as a star on the court an in the community averaging 22.1 points per game while being selected to the 1996 NBA All-Star Game. However, his teammate Chris Webber would be limited to 15 games following the lingering effect to his injured shoulder. The Bullets finished fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 39-43 record, which was an impressive 18 game improvement over their previous season. However, they missed the playoffs for the eight consecutive year. 7'7" center Gheorghe Muresan was named Most Improved Player of The Year, and first round draft pick Rasheed Wallace made the All-Rookie Second Team. Following the season, Wallace was traded to the Portland Trailblazers.

Offseason

Draft picks

Main article: 1995 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	4	Rasheed Wallace	Forward	United States	North Carolina
2	32	Terrence Rencher	Guard	United States	Texas

Roster

Washington Bullets roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From SG 32 Butler, Mitchell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) UCLA SG 40 Cheaney, Calbert 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 209 lb (95 kg) Indiana SG 21 Eackles, Ledell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) New Orleans SF 5 Howard, Juwan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Michigan SG 23 Legler, Tim 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) La Salle C 42 Lewis, Cedric 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Maryland PF 55 McCann, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 244 lb (111 kg) Morehead State C 22 McIlvaine, Jim 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Marquette C 77 Mureșan, Gheorghe 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) 303 lb (137 kg) Romania PG 14 Pack, Robert  6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Southern California PG 20 Price, Brent 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Oklahoma PG 15 Price, Mark  6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Georgia Tech PF 34 Thornton, Bob 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UC Irvine PF 30 Wallace, Rasheed 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) North Carolina PF 4 Webber, Chris  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Michigan PG 12 Whitney, Chris 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 168 lb (76 kg) Clemson	Head coach Jim Lynam (Saint Joseph's) Assistant coach(es) Derek Smith (Louisville) Bob Staak (Connecticut) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster • Transactions

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Orlando Magic	60	22	.732	–	37–4	23–18	21–3
x-New York Knicks	47	35	.573	13	26–15	21–20	16–8
x-Miami Heat	42	40	.512	18	26–15	16–25	13–12
Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	21	25–16	14–27	10–14
Boston Celtics	33	49	.402	27	18–23	15–26	12–12
New Jersey Nets	30	52	.366	30	20–21	10–31	8–17
Philadelphia 76ers	18	64	.220	42	11–30	7–34	5–19

Eastern Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Chicago Bulls	72	10	.878	–
2	y-Orlando Magic	60	22	.732	12
3	x-Indiana Pacers	52	30	.634	20
4	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	47	35	.573	25
5	x-New York Knicks	47	35	.573	25
6	x-Atlanta Hawks	46	36	.561	26
7	x-Detroit Pistons	46	36	.561	26
8	x-Miami Heat	42	40	.512	30
9	Charlotte Hornets	41	41	.500	31
10	Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	33
11	Boston Celtics	33	49	.402	39
12	New Jersey Nets	30	52	.366	42
13	Milwaukee Bucks	25	57	.305	47
14	Toronto Raptors	21	61	.256	51
15	Philadelphia 76ers	18	64	.220	54

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Awards and records

• Gheorge Muresan, NBA Most Improved Player Award
• Juwan Howard, All-NBA Third Team
• Rasheed Wallace, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team

See also

• 1995-96 NBA season