announced that he would undergo surgery on his right wrist and was expected to miss 4–6 months. The preseason marked the return of Etan Thomas who had missed all of the 2007–2008 season while recovering from open-heart surgery. The Wizards added guard Fenny Falmagne from the Dakota Wizards on August 23, 2008, who was later waived by the team after his knee injury. The Wizards opened the season on October 29 with a loss against New Jersey, and dropped fifteen of their first nineteen games. Head coach Eddie Jordan was fired on November 24 after a 1–10 start, and was replaced by interim coach Ed Tapscott. On December 10, Washington acquired guards Javaris Crittenton and Mike James in a three-team deal that sent Antonio Daniels to New Orleans. The team waived guard Dee Brown. They won just 14 of their first 60 games and in the end tied a franchise-worst record of . One of the few high points of the season came on February 27 when recently inaugurated President Barack Obama attended a Wizards game against the Chicago Bulls, sitting in a northeast court-side seat. The Wizards produced their second-biggest victory margin of the season with a 113–90 win; Jamison paced the side with 27 points. On April 2, the Wizards shut down the Cleveland Cavaliers, who came in with a record of 61–13, and ended Cleveland's franchise-best winning streak at 13. Flip Saunders reached an agreement to become the new coach of the team in mid-April 2009. Despite having the second-best chance at obtaining the number one overall pick in the 2009 draft, the Wizards were randomly chosen to pick fifth overall in the NBA Draft Lottery. This pick was later traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with Songaila, Thomas, and Oleksiy Pecherov, in exchange for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. On May 21, 2009, Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld announced that the team has named Randy Wittman and Sam Cassell as assistant coaches. Then on August 11, 2009, the Wizards signed Fabricio Oberto, many weeks after he committed to signing with the team. In November, majority owner Abe Pollin died at the age of 85. At the time of his passing, he was the longest-tenured owner in NBA history. Control of the franchise passed to his widow Irene, though minority owner Ted Leonsis was known to be preparing a takeover bid. On December 24, 2009, it was revealed