Wiz of Awes
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Washington Wizards: How the Team Became Great Seemingly Overnight

By Matt Levin

Mar 24, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) dribbles as Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin (7) defends during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 24, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) dribbles as Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin (7) defends during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
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Washington Wizards looked like they were destined for the NBA Lottery, but became great overnight, catapulting atop the Eastern Conference standings.

With the Washington Wizards‘ dominant win over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, Scott Brooks‘ team has officially clinched a playoff spot.

Currently, the Wizards sit as third in the East, and just 3.5 games back from first place Cleveland. While the consensus has been that Washington won’t catch Cleveland, the team has proven skeptics wrong time and time again.

Coming out of a disappointing 2015-2016 season where the Wizards failed to make the playoffs, fans looked forward to free agency, as the Kevin Durant sweepstakes were finally beginning.

Fans across the DMV pulled out their KD2DC t-shirts and constantly refreshed Twitter for any news or rumor that said Durant would be coming home.

The firing of head coach Randy Wittman and hiring of Brooks, Durant’s former coach in Oklahoma City, increased the KD2DC rumors. However, as free agency went on, Durant’s anticipated return to DC never came close to becoming a reality as he did not even consider taking a meeting.

Hometown fans were disappointed, to say the least, but had hope of bringing in another All-star, Al Horford, during free-agency.

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Reports stated that Horford was deciding between the Wizards and Celtics.

The Wizards had a real shot of bringing in an All-star to play with John Wall which brought a lot of excitement (albeit for a brief moment) to the nation’s capital.

But this excitement quickly disappeared as Horford chose the Celtics over the Wizards.

Moments after the announcement, Adrian Wojnarowski Tweeted the most heartbreaking Tweet of all time.

“Horford had been incredibly intrigued with Wizards and there was a time that he preferred Washington’s talent over Boston’s. Wild finish.”

For years, the 2016 offseason was the period when the Washington Wizards were supposed to sign another superstar to play alongside Wall. Instead, the Wizards came away with heartbreak and disappointment.

Coming into the 2016-2017 season, the Wizards had lost key bench contributors in Nene, Ramon Sessions, and Jared Dudley, replacing them with Ian Mahinmi, Jason Smith, and Trey Burke.

With a totally revamped bench, the question for the Wizards coming into the season was could the they even make the playoffs.

After 10 games into the season, that question was thought to be answered as no.

The Wizards’ key offseason pickup, Ian Mahinmi, had knee surgery which put him on the sidelines for many months. To make matters worse, the Wizards started 2-8.

The disappointment surrounding the Wizards was capitalized by an embarrassing loss to the 76ers.

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The questions surrounding the Wizards now were not if they could make the playoffs, but if they should tank.

Trade rumors and articles began to appear stating that the Wizards should trade John Wall.

Bill Simmons of the Ringer stated in his podcast that “If I’m running Washington, I would trade John Wall right now. I would just move him for picks and do a complete tankapalooza… I think the fact that Kevin Durant didn’t even want to meet with them should’ve been a come-to-Jesus moment for that team.”

For fans, it was clear that the Wizards simply were not a good team.

Attendance at games was low and the fans weren’t engaged. Even the players were struggling with the current state of the team.

The scapegoat for the Wizards’ struggles was general manager Ernie Grunfeld. Fans were publicly calling for his head, bringing signs to games to voice their displeasure.

By the time December rolled around, it seemed as though all of DC had given up hope on their basketball team. But the players never did.

All of a sudden, the Washington Wizards turned everything around.

From the beginning of December, the Wizards have one of the best records in the entire league. The Wizards were winning game after game, including a 17 home game winning streak. The Wizards became the first team to start 2-8 and be 15 games above .500 in NBA history.

The players were having fun again, as shown by the impressive win against the Celtics, known as “the Funeral Game.” Wizards fans had not only regained their hope, but pride in their basketball team.

In just a matter of a couple months, the Washington Wizards saw themselves go from a team destined for the lottery to a team at the top of both the power rankings and the Eastern Conference.

At the trade deadline, Ernie Grunfeld had redeemed himself for his dreadful offseason.

Grunfeld revamped the struggling bench by acquired Bojan Bogdanovic and Brandon Jennings. These two acquisitions plus the return of Ian Mahinmi from injury completely turned around one of the worst benches in the league.

Fans no longer desired the firing of Grunfeld. Instead, he is being considered for Executive of the year.

Next: Why the Wizards Could Get To the NBA Finals

Washington’s expectations have never been higher. For the first time in decades, the team is chasing a championship – and most importantly, they’re doing so after a disastrous start.

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