The Washington Wizards have cut Shelvin Mack and Brian Cook, leaving Jannero Pargo and Earl Barron on their regular season roster.

The Wizards reportedly feel more comfortable with Pargo helping fill in at point guard due to the early regular season absence of John Wall.

MILWAUKEE -- Widely regarded as a one-dimensional scorer, Jordan Crawford has spent time on improving his playmaking abilities. He knows the Washington Wizards will need him to create plays for himself and teammates much more this season, especially while John Wall is unavailable due to injury.

Crawford had his entire offensive repertoire on-point in Saturday night’s 100-94 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, dropping 17 points and five assists. He entered the game late in the first quarter and immediately lit up the scoreboard with 10 points in his first six minutes of action – and he added a sleek pass to Jan Vesley for a dunk off a well-executed pick-and-roll.

With Wall slated to miss the first month of the season, Crawford will almost assuredly play more point guard, a challenge the 23-year-old is willing to take on.

“If coach [Randy Wittman] asks me to, I’ll step into that role,” Crawford told RealGM. “It’s [as] simple as that.”

As for his voice within the Wizards’ locker room, the third-year guard hopes to make an effort to open up more as a leader.

“I just want to bring another phase to my game and be a leader off the court and on the court lead by example,” Crawford said. “Really, I just want to help the team win.”

The Wizards picked up the option on Crawford’s deal through 13-14. Even so, Crawford is not fretting about his future with the organization – just focusing on this season and next, wanting to help lead the Wizards to a playoff run.

“We’ll see how [the future] goes,” he said. “I’m just excited to be a part of this team and try to win this year.”

The Washington Wizards have exercised the fourth-year contract options on John Wall, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin and Jordan Crawford while picking up the third-year contract options on Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton.  Wall, Booker, Seraphin, Crawford, Vesely and Singleton are now signed through the 2013-14 season.  

“We have been able to bring in and develop this core group of talented, mature young players over the last several years, and we’re pleased to have them all signed through next season,” said Ernie Grunfeld.  “Combining them with the veterans we’ve added gives us a solid foundation that can be competitive now while allowing us to continue to build towards future success.”

Martell Webster sees more of Dwyane Wade's game in Bradley Beal than he even does Ray Allen, whom the Washington Wizards' rookie most often uses as a comparison.

“He says he wants to compare himself to Ray Allen, but he has a little more flash than Ray Allen. I’d say he has a little of The Flash — [Dwyane] Wade — in him,” Webster said. “He can slash, put it on the floor, and make contact. That’s big. When you can establish yourself at the free throw line seven, eight times a game, that’s a big difference. He’s got it. He’s still a rookie. He’s learning the basics. If he keeps watching the players that he admires, take little bits and add them to himself, he’ll be a star in this league.”

Beal is averaging a team-best 16.5 points through the first two games as a reserve.

Emeka Okafor hasn't played an NBA game since February 10th and is anxious to make his return and also his debut with the Washington Wizards on Thursday against the Knicks.

“It’s been a long time,” Okafor said after Wednesday’s practice. “I mean, just getting back into the flow. Practice is one thing, games are a completely different thing.”

Okafor missed the final 39 games of the 11-12 season with a left knee injury.

Randy Wittman said Okafor hasn’t experienced any problems with his knee or elsewhere during practice: “He looks fine. He’s been fine all summer and he’s been full bore ever since we got a hold of him.”

Jannero Pargo has signed a one-year deal with the Washington Wizards.

John Wall will not return from injury until at least November.

Pargo spent last season with the Hawks.