WASHINGTON - The day after the NBA draft has the feel of the day after Christmas, as 29 clubs try to figure out just what arrived under the tree the day before.

In that vein, Washington Wizards coach Doug Collins looked like the proverbial kid taking his new sled out for a post-holiday test run yesterday, appraising the three gifts, guard Juan Dixon and forwards Jared Jeffries and Rod Grizzard, the team picked up in Wednesday's draft.

"We feel like we have three first-round choices sitting up here that all bring something a little bit different," said Collins. "You take a 6-foot-8 slashing guy [Grizzard] who has the ability to score, you take Juan ... where everywhere he's gone, he's won, and every year he's gotten better. And the same thing is true with Jared."

Add them all together and throw them into a passel of rising young talent, along with the possible return of Michael Jordan, and the Wizards believe they have something quite appealing, so much so that they might actually generate something of a buzz around the NBA.

What Collins specifically wants from Jeffries, Dixon and Grizzard is for them to raise the stakes for the returning nucleus of young players and to pressure them into better play, hopefully when training camp starts in October.

"I know good and well that Jared Jeffries is going to push Kwame Brown to be a better player. I love that," said Collins. "I know that Rod is going to do the same thing with our other forwards and Juan is going to do that with our guards. That's what it's all about: competition."

Because each of the three draftees can play multiple positions, the Wizards expect that they will push a number of young incumbents.

For instance, Jeffries, the former Indiana star who can play small and power forward, will not only challenge Brown, last year's first overall pick, but also second-year forward Etan Thomas, who began to blossom late in the season.

Grizzard, a swingman who left Alabama after three years, will get time at shooting guard and small forward, where second-year man Bobby Simmons looks to be in the rotation behind Jordan and Richard Hamilton.

In addition, the selections of Grizzard and Jeffries may make re-signing reserve small forward Tyrone Nesby, one of Washington's two free agents, less of a priority. The other free agent, power forward Popeye Jones, is considered likely to return to the Wizards.

Dixon, the hero of Maryland's national championship team, will see time at either guard position, and may supplant starting point guard Chris Whitney or reserve guard Tyronn Lue, contingent on whether Washington can sign a big point guard with the team's midlevel salary cap exemption when the free-agent period opens Monday.

"These three young players are going to be an addition, but the young players we had on the team last year are going to have to elevate their games in order for us to be a team that can be of playoff consideration," said Collins.

The Washington brain trust believes it got steals with their four draft choices, though the fourth, 6-3 guard Juan Carlos Navarro, whom the team selected in the second round, is under contract to a team in Barcelona, Spain, and will not play here this season.

Jeffries, a 6-9 forward from Indiana, was reportedly considered by teams drafting higher than Washington's initial first-round pick at 11, but drifted down in part because he is not as muscular as other players at his height.

But his ability to pass and shoot from the outside, as well as his versatility, made him attractive to Washington.

Meanwhile, the Wizards moved Courtney Alexander to the New Orleans Hornets on Monday for the 17th overall pick for the chance to get Dixon, whose stock rose closer to the draft, thanks to impressive workouts.

Washington considers Grizzard, who chipped a bone in his leg in a postseason workout, as the biggest steal of all, as he had been considered a potential lottery pick before the injury.

Grizzard said the bone has healed, and he needs a couple of weeks of therapy, but will be ready for training camp. Collins said the club would hold him out of the summer league as a precaution.