No longer a rookie so unfamiliar with the NBA game that he sometimes didn’t know what he was saying last season, the 21-year-old Wall is unfazed about still being the youngest player on team with seven players aged 23 or younger. He believes he can guide the Wizards through the rigors of a truncated 66-game season.

“I kind of know what it takes to win games. I know what it takes to control things,” Wall said. “I think it’s going to be a little easier, but it’s still going to be tough going against top point guards every night and trying to lead a young team.”

After being held back by injuries and his own lack of expertise last season, Wall is ready to truly be unleashed this season. “I feel this is my year to break out,” Wall said. “I’m 100 percent now. I’m way better than I was. I’m feeling the same way I felt when I first started playing here last year.

“I got goals set for myself, but I don’t like talking about it,” he said. “I’m focusing on team goals. All the elite point guards in the league right now, they all are winners. They care about your stats here or there, but if you’re winning games and take your teams and considered championship kind of teams, that’s what it’s all about.”

Saunders recognized Wall’s efforts in the first day of practice by giving him a construction helmet with the team’s new red, white and blue “dc” logo to symbolize the hardest worker. He gave Wall the option to keep it or give it to someone else, but Wall didn’t remove it for the duration of practice, believing he had earned it.

“If you think about it, everybody that play hard, you might get a little treat,” Wall said of the hard hat, which Saunders hopes will represent the attitude of a team that won just 23 games last season. “I think last year, we didn’t play as a team a lot. We didn’t play hard. That’s one thing, as a young team, you have to play hard every time out there. I think adding a couple of people that we got, a couple of draft picks, and some people that we’re thinking about signing or signed, I think they can help us.”

The Wizards brought back veteran guard Roger Mason Jr. and added veteran forward Ronny Turiaf from the New York Knicks in a three-team trade with Dallas that also yielded a 2013 second-round pick and $3 million from the Knicks, and a 2012 second-round pick from the Mavericks. Dallas received a protected second-round pick from the Wizards.

The team is also counting on a healthy Rashard Lewis and Andray Blatche, and the development of JaVale McGee and Jordan Crawford, who is slated to start at shooting guard if the team is unable to re-sign restricted free agent Nick Young.

But Saunders realizes the team will only improve by how much Wall progresses from his first season. Wall averaged 16.4 points, 8.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds as a rookie, despite dealing with injuries to his right knee and left foot. He regained his explosiveness and used his athleticism to burn up courts throughout the country during the summer, but the real work has finally begun.

“His biggest thing is staying healthy,” Saunders said. “There’s no question he’s a lot healthier right now than he was a year ago. I mean, it’s like night and day watching him out there on the floor, and the things he can do now that he wasn’t able to do last year. The thing is, when you’re the face of the franchise, there’s always high expectations. But I think that’s something he relishes the opportunity to take that challenge.”

Wall is more vocal in practice, offering instruction and words of encouragement to rookies Shelvin Mack, Chris Singleton and Jan Vesely, who has the adjacent locker room stall. Practicing with Wall for the first time, Mason noticed his willingness to lead by example and “get dirty” by diving for loose balls and blocking shots. Blatche also believes Wall is better prepared to handle the tests that come with being a former No. 1 overall pick.

“John, he had a year to mature under his belt,” Blatche said. “He knows what it takes. He knows what other teams are going to try to do to defend him, and Flip and Sam been in his ear about controlling the game, what’s your pace, less turnovers. I think John is going to be ready this season to help us out a lot.”

Wizards forward Andray Blatche was relieved — and a little surprised — to be back.

On the first day players were allowed to use NBA facilities, Blatche was joined by a handful other NBA players and a group of hopefuls for a workout on Thursday.

“I was starting to lose hope — and I didn’t think there would be a season this year,” Blatche said. “Every time there was a negotiation, everything kept going wrong.”

After he learned that players and owners agreed on a contract early last Saturday morning, Blatche was overjoyed.

“Now, there’s a season, and I can’t wait to get back.”

Only one of Blatche’s current Washington teammates, Hamady N’Diaye, a restricted free agent, joined him. Also there were a pair of former Wizards, Dallas Mavericks center Brendan Haywood, who gloated about winning the NBA championship to Blatche, and free agent Roger Mason Jr. So was Roy Hibbert, the former Georgetown star, who lives in the area and plays with the Indiana Pacers.

The rest of the players on the court are hoping to get a shot at the big time.

Mason, who helped negotiate the deal, defended Billy Hunter, the executive director of the players union.

“I’ve seen what Mr. Hunter has done throughout this whole process. I really don’t think we’d have a deal if he wasn’t involved,” Mason said. “We saved a lot of people’s jobs — not just the guys who play ball — but people who were affected by this lockout.”

During the lockout, Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld kept busy by watching European League games and attending college practices and games.

Washington hasn’t made the playoffs the last three seasons when its combined record is 68-178.

“I expect us to improve as the season goes along,” Grunfeld said. “We started rebuilding last year.”

Grunfeld is looking to add a free agent or two to his young club, which includes John Wall, last year’s No. 1 overall draft choice.

Besides Blatche, who’s in his seventh season with the team, the Wizards currently have just one player over 25 — 32-year-old forward Rashard Lewis — who the team was forced to take from Orlando in exchange of getting rid of troubled guard Gilbert Arenas last December.

Once Grunfeld signs draft choices Jan Vesely, Chris Singleton and Shelvin Mack, Washington will have 10 players under contract. He’d like to re-sign swingman Nick Young. He could also bring back N’Diaye and guard Maurice Evans, who was also active in labor negotiations.

“We have a qualifying offer out there for Nick,” Grunfeld said.

Grunfeld also said he would consider re-signing Josh Howard, who’s had knee injuries since he joined the team in Feb. 2010.

He hopes that his team will be together for the start of training camp on Dec. 9.

“Everything is going to be condensed,” Grunfeld said. “When you have a young group like we have, you’d like to have as much time as you can.”

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement doesn’t faze Grunfeld.

“I don’t think it’s going to change too much — not just for us — but for anybody,” Grunfeld said.

Blatche said he attended some of the NBA Finals games last June, and he thinks Washington can break its postseason drought.

“We have high expectations of making the playoffs,” Blatche said. “It should be an easy season for us for the fact that we have a lot of young guys.”

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