For the first time in 12 years, the Wizards will be getting a new basketball court this season, which is scheduled to be in place in time for the team’s preseason home opener on Oct. 12.

Of more interest to local fans, for the second time in four seasons, the Wizards will be getting a new basketball court design.

The new design — which was first posted by Grantland — has several noticeable changes from last year’s version, which debuted in 2011 and is seen below. The lanes change colors from mostly blue to all red, a color that hadn’t been well-represented on the playing surface since the team’s colors changed. The three-point line will also change from blue to red.

The logo at mid-court changes from “wizards” to “dc,” capitalizing on the dcRising theme that the team used throughout its playoff run last spring. Two smaller “dc” logos from last year’s court design will instead become “wizards” logos.

Also new this year — and not reflected on this image — will be a Geico logo on the apron near the home bench, to the right of the three stars.

Grantland’s Zach Lowe, for one, approves of the changes:

The Wiz jump a few spots with a redesign on track for this season that dispenses with the simplistic “Wizards” scrawled across half court in favor of the classic “DC” logo, with a hand popping out of the “D” and reaching high for a basketball. That’s a piece of NBA high art, and under the most recent Wiz design, it had been relegated to a small slice of territory in the corner. The Wiz are also erasing the college lanes, creating a clear painted area, and swapping out navy for red as the paint color. It appears to be a bright red, and it will take time to conclude how it looks as a centerpiece color. The baselines are also getting a makeover — from red with blue lettering to the inverse. The two-toned wood, alas, remains, and the Wiz have long had a lighting system that dulls the court. But this is a good step. The stars along the near sideline add a splash of nation’s capital fun.

To the extent anyone cares, the old court was put down before the 2001-02 season. And the new court has a different inter-locking mechanism, which is intended to make the conversion to and from the Caps or Georgetown configurations easier.