Washington Wizards Mailbag Monday: Why 50 Wins Is More Important Than Resting Starters

Hey, David:

Setting goals has always been a tricky thing for the Washington Wizards.

When the season began in 2014, the Wizards just wanted to make the playoffs. In 2015, after surpassing expectations and making it to the semifinals the year prior, the team expected to compete in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Then last year, after pushing the Atlanta Hawks to six games in the semis, the Wizards, once again, wanted a chance to make the Conference Finals.

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Of course, they completely failed to make the playoffs.

If you compare those teams, it’s safe to say this year’s iteration of the Wizards is better than the ones before it.

John Wall is an All-NBA talent and Bradley Beal has become an elite scorer.

Ernie Grunfeld has also equipped the team with legitimate outside shooters, which is something every contending team needs nowadays.

But for now, it’s safe to say that the Washington Wizards are expected to get to the second round, given that they have homecourt advantage against the Bucks or Hawks.

After that, it’s kind of up in the air.

Let’s just assume the Wizards play the Cavaliers in the second round and lose, as most would expect. There are different ways to lose. If the team were to get swept or lose in five noncompetitive games, the future of the team’s core would be questioned. If the team loses in, say, seven games, that might still be enough to keep the core together and attract top free agents.

There’s no shame in losing to the defending NBA champions, especially if LeBron James is on the opposing team. But there’s different ways to lose and the Wizards have to at least make it look like they have a shot, if that make sense.

So to answer your question, I’d say it’s not the worst thing in the world if the Wizards lose a competitive series to the Cavaliers. They just have to hope it’s the Boston Celtics they’ll be playing in the second round, not Cleveland.