Washington Wizards Mailbag Monday: Why the Wizards Have One of the Best Young Cores in the NBA
By Ben Mehic
Been debating which Eastern conference teams have the brightest 5 year outlook. How would you rank the top 3?
— Louie G (@Lootcakes) February 6, 2017
This is probably the most underrated aspect about the Washington Wizards’ roster.
Ernie Grunfeld, for all of his faults, has done a solid job of building a team for the future while also competing today.
John Wall is just 26. Bradley Beal and Otto Porter are both 23. Kelly Oubre just turned 21. And they’ve all shown flashes of being stars.
Wall is an All-NBA player, while both Beal and Porter have played at an All-Star level this season.
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Oubre can finally drink legally, but he’s already one of the team’s best defenders.
Plus, at 6-foot-7, he has the physical tools that are necessary to succeed in the modern NBA.
He’s shown massive improvement on the perimeter, becoming a consistent threat from deep.
Washington is the third best team in the East, but it’s not like their success will stop this season.
The core will only continue to get better.
But how will they match up against the rest of the East in the future? That’s almost impossible to measure.
We can assume the Cleveland Cavaliers will remain on top. LeBron James, even in his mid-30s, will be the best player in the league, arguably.
Kyrie Irving will be in the prime of his career then, too.
The Milwaukee Bucks have a sick young duo in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker. Malcolm Brogdon has also shown legitimate promise.
And as Nithin pointed out on Twitter, the Boston Celtics own the Brooklyn Nets’ future draft picks. The Nets won’t be good for a while, so those picks will be in the high lottery. Boston already has an established core in Isaiah Thomas, Jaylen Brown, Jae Crowder and Al Horford. If they draft well, they should be competing for a top spot in the East for years to come.
The Philadelphia 76ers are going to be stellar, too. Joel Embiid, if he remains healthy, will be an MVP candidate. Ben Simmons was picked first overall in this past year’s draft and has the potential to become a star player.
If I had to rank the top three, I’d go: Cavaliers (by default, but it will depend on how well LeBron ages), Sixers and Celtics.
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Washington is right outside of that range.