<p>The Washington Wizards extended a qualifying contract offer Wednesday to Kwame Brown, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 draft from Brunswick, Ga., who was suspended at the end of last season.</p><p>The offer makes Brown a restricted free agent, so the Wizards have the right to match any offer another NBA team makes him this offseason.</p><p>The Wizards also made a qualifying offer to guard Steve Blake.</p><p>Brown averaged 7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 42 games last season, slightly below his four-year career averages of 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds. He has yet to fulfill the potential that made him the first high school player to go first in an NBA draft.</p><p>He was suspended for most of the postseason after missing a practice and Game 4 of the Wizards' first-round playoff series against the Chicago Bulls.</p><p>"There is no saying that he won't be back with us," Washington president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld said last month. "We'll explore all of our options. We'll meet with him and his representatives and see where we are. There is a possibility that he will be back with us."</p><p>Blake averaged 4.4 points and 1.5 assists in his second NBA season. He was a second-round draft pick in 2003 after helping Maryland win the 2002 NCAA championship.</p>
