Washington Wizards improved their roster by adding Bojan Bogdanovic and Brandon Jennings, but the Cleveland Cavaliers are still too deep.
NBA pundits expected the Cleveland Cavaliers to run away with the Eastern Conference crown before the 2016-17 season began. But with roughly 20 games remaining in the season, the Cavaliers haven’t done enough to secure the first seed just yet.
After a brutal start, the Washington Wizards have become one of the Cavaliers’ primary challengers for the top spot, sitting third in the East, five games below Cleveland.
Washington is on-pace to finish the season with 50 wins, which they haven’t done since 1978 – their lone championship year.
Ernie Grunfeld has addressed some of the team’s needs after botching free agency by acquiring Bojan Bogdanovic in a trade deadline deal and scooping Brandon Jennings off waivers.
Still, the team has been up and down – beating the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, then losing to the Raptors at home. Washington is also coming off a one-point victory over the lottery bound Orlando Magic.
No team, including the Wizards, has done enough to cement their place as the top team in the East. But, with that said, can the Wizards actually challenge the Cavaliers, who’ll naturally play at a higher level in the postseason?
That’s the topic for this week’s mailbag.