Many people expect the Washington Wizards to be one of the worst teams in the NBA this season. Here is why they can prove everyone wrong and make the playoffs.
The Washington Wizards have undergone major roster changes over the past year. Many players who started multiple games last season for the Wizards now find themselves wearing a different team’s uniform including, Otto Porter, Markieff Morris, Tomas Satoransky, Jeff Green, Trevor Ariza, and Bobby Portis.
With all the roster turnover, the Wizards lacked the cap space to truly replace everyone that left. This created a depth issue on the Wizard’s roster that is even worse than it was last year.
To fill the roster gaps, the Wizards added many young players with small contracts to the team, including Moe Wagner, Isaac Bonga, and Admiral Schofield. While these players have potential, their talent is raw and it will likely take time for them to development before they can make a true impact on the court.
To make matters worse, the Wizards are dealing with multiple injuries. John Wall is likely out for the year with his torn achilles. Isaiah Thomas will miss the start of the season with a torn ligament in his thumb. Ian Mahinmi is also set to miss the start of the season with a strained achilles. Troy Brown is also dealing with a calf strain. Finally, C.J. Miles is still recovering from his foot surgery over the summer.
This season, in the eyes of many, seems like a disaster waiting to happen. However, let’s not give up all hope and rule the Washington Wizards out of the playoffs just yet.
The first reason why the Wizards could make the playoffs is that they underwent a huge culture change over the summer. Ernie Grunfeld is finally out as the Wizard’s General Manager, being replaced by Tommy Sheppard. The Wizards have added numerous people to their front office staff to help run the team, like former Cleveland Browns Executive Sashi Brown and former Georgetown men’s basketball Head Coach John Thompson.
This culture change will no longer allow players to pushover executives and it will install a winning attitude. The Wizards front office will finally be respected instead of laughed at. Players will have the mind set of wanting to win every game when the play for the nation’s capital.
Outside of the culture change, the Wizards have acquired a young player who is destined to become a future star in the NBA: Rui Hachimura. Hachimura has been killing it over the summer in both the Summer League and the FIBA World Cup. The ninth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft is set to be a starter for the Wizards right off the bat, something a Wizards rookie has not done since Bradley Beal.
At the end of the year, do not be surprised if he is in contention for Rookie of the Year. Hachimura is still young, but has the talent to help lead this team all the way to the playoffs.
Finally, the biggest reason the Wizards could make the playoffs this season is because they have something many other teams in the East don’t, a superstar.
With John Wall out, Bradley Beal is the heart and soul of the Wizards and the leader of the team. He is one of the best in the league and he still has not reached his prime. Beal is coming off of his best season ever, averaging 25.6 points, 5.5 assists, and 5 rebounds per game last season. His mindset is to only improve upon this.
In order to get to the playoffs, the Wizards would likely have to beat out the Magic, Knicks, Nets and Hawks for the eighth seed. The Magic, Knicks, and Hawks do not have any player, who as of now, is even close to the talent of Beal’s. While the Nets have Kyrie Irving, he proved that he is unable to lead a team while in Boston.
While it will be challenging, the Washington Wizards being able to make the playoffs as an eighth seed should not be ruled out of the question just quite yet.