Washington Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the Wizards have extended a qualifying offer to guard Steve Blake and forward/center Kwame Brown making them restricted free agents. This provides the Wizards with the right to match any offer to both Blake and Brown.

Blake, who enters his third season, averaged 4.4 points and 1.5 assists in 43  games with Washington last season. He was selected by the Wizards in the second round (38th overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft out of the University of Maryland.  He has averaged 5.4 points, 2.3 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 118 career games.

Brown averaged 7.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 42 games last season with the Wizards. He has averaged 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in his four-year NBA career. Brown was selected by the Wizards with the first overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft.