Like most others, Caesars Sportsbook doesn’t see many wins in the Washington Wizards’ future. Fewer wins than they had last season, in fact.
The exciting Monumental Basketball announcement hasn’t changed many folks mind about the upcoming season. The Tommy Sheppard – Sahsi Brown duo may have sparked some hope, just not for this season according to the over/under win totals released by Caesars Sportsbook on Thursday, July 25.
Similar to what we saw in Power Rankings from ESPN and The Athletic, the Washington Wizards find themselves towards the bottom of Caesars Sportbook’s list. They set the over/under at 28.5 wins for the Wizards. Only four teams (New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Charlotte Hornets) have smaller over/under totals.
The numbers aren’t exactly set in stone, as betting can influence these lines. They are a good barometer for what one of the country’s biggest sportsbook expects to see during the upcoming NBA season, though. Earlier this month, FiveThirtyEight released their win projections for the upcoming NBA season, too. According to their predictions, the Wizards will tally 32 wins this season. So I guess Nate Silver would advise you to take the over.
A 28.5 win prediction expects the Wizards to be worse than last year’s unimpressive 32-win total. However, Ted Leonsis is now saying he doesn’t expect John Wall to play at all next season, so a smaller win total should probably be expected. No, they didn’t have Wall for all of last season. It’s unclear how healthy he actually was when he was on the court, too. But having Wall for 32 games is better than having him for zero games. That’s undeniable.
Excluding Wall, the Wizards only have five other players returning from last year’s roster: Bradley Beal, Troy Brown Jr, Thomas Bryant, Jordan McRae, and Ian Mahinmi. The front office has a whole new look, too. While all this change is welcomed and exciting, there’s a good chance it could take a while before it translates into wins.