Washington Wizards should not get a pass for poor play in NBA bubble

The Washington Wizards aren’t at full strength, and it shows. But that shouldn’t let them off the hook.

Since the NBA season restarted, the Washington Wizards are 0-7 in their seeding games. Including the exhibition games, they are 0-10 in the bubble.

Maybe Stephen A Smith was right. Maybe the Wizards should never have shown up to the NBA bubble in Orlando. Sure, they technically had a chance to force a play-in game with either Brooklyn or Orlando, but once the short schedule came out, it was obvious how tough it would be for the Wizards to make a surprise playoff run. Even if they did get some help from other teams.

And then Davis Bertans dropped out of the NBA restart. Then Bradley Beal decided to sit it out, too. While the rest of the NBA was preparing for their final tuneups, the Wizards were getting ready for glorified Summer League.

So the expectations changed. The bubble was no longer about winning for the Wizards; it was about development. But even with lowered expectations, these Wizards should not get a pass for their poor play in the bubble.

I get it. The Wizards don’t have their top contributors. Well, neither do the Brooklyn Nets, and they’ve won five of the seven games they’ve played in the bubble. Plus, they came to Orlando with a brand new head coach.

The Milwaukee Bucks sure weren’t at full strength when they played the Wizards in the bubble. They were without Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, Donte DiVincenzo, and Wesley Matthews. They even lost Giannis Antetonkoumpo in the second quarter after he was ejected for headbutting Moritz Wagner. The Bucks still won 126-113.

There are a number of teams who are down a few players in the bubble or have chosen to rest stars throughout the seeding games. The Dallas Mavericks stole a game from the Utah Jazz while Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis rested. The LA Clippers took down the Portland Trail Blazers without Kawhi Leonard, Patrick Beverly, and Montrezel Harell.

The Wizards aren’t the only team playing games in the bubble at less than full strength, but they are the only team in the bubble still searching for their first win.

With the bubble being all about development, the young guys have certainly gotten plenty of chances. Every member of the Wizards’ starting lineup in their loss to the Bucks was under 24 years old. They’ve just looked thoroughly outmatched against stiffer competition. With only one game left in the bubble, it looks like the Wizards will go winless in Orlando.

So what does that mean for next season? Throw John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Davis Bertans out with a group that simply can’t compete with other playoff teams and hope they can shoulder the load? I’m not sure that’s a recipe for playoff contention. Or one that will make the superstar guards very happy.

At some point, we have to acknowledge that the supporting staff – and the coaching staff – around Wall and Beal may not be good enough. They’re proving that with ten straight losses in the bubble. Tommy Sheppard’s got some work to do this offseason.