In Washington, the relationship between Brendan Haywood and Eddie Jordan appeared to be shattered beyond repair following the Wizards' season-ending loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season.

After failing to get off the bench, Haywood stalked to the locker room, ripped off the nameplate above his locker and left Verizon Center without comment.

Later, according to multiple league sources, Haywood considered demanding a trade. However, such a deal never materialized as team president Ernie Grunfeld concentrated on re-signing free agents DeShawn Stevenson and Andray Blatche rather than making a drastic change to his team's roster.

Gilbert Arenas, who is one of Haywood's best friends on the team, said Haywood recently joined teammates in Washington for informal workouts following a clear-the-air meeting with Jordan and new assistant coach Randy Ayers. The meeting took place near Haywood's offseason home in North Carolina earlier this month.

"Eddie went down there to talk to Brendan because at first, Brendan was like, 'I'm not coming to' " Washington for pre-camp workouts, Arenas said. "But they talked and Brendan's been here for the last two weeks. Whatever they talked about, it brought Brendan back."