As things stand, the Washington Wizards will need to play nearly perfect basketball just to sneak into the play-in games. Is it worth it?
The Washington Wizards aren’t considered a threat by many. In recent power rankings from ESPN and NBA.com, the Wizards rank 25th in both. They’re 17-29, 13th in the Eastern Conference standings. They’re not making up any ground, and they’re running out of time.
As the Wizards get ready for a busy April schedule, their final full month of the season, they need to decide how they’ll handle the remaining 26 games. Is it worth it to cling to improbable playoff odds and try to ride Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook to an early playoff exit? Or is it time to read the writing on the wall and pack it in this season?
There’s no doubt that the Wizards have two incredible talents in their backcourt. When they’re at their best, the Wizards can at least hang with even the best teams. But Davis Bertans is on the mend. Newcomer Daniel Gafford is down after nearly 30 excellent minutes with the Wizards. And Beal has missed the last two games with a hip injury. While the Wizards are banged up, most other teams in the Eastern Conference playoff race got better at the trade deadline or in the buyout market.
The Nets got better. The 76ers got better. The Bucks got better. The Heat got better. The Celtics got better. The Bulls got better. And although the Pacers didn’t make any major moves, they got Caris LeVert back from injury in mid-March. So they got better.
The Wizards got better, too. Gafford looked great before his injury. Chandler Hutchison has looked solid, as well. But these upgrades aren’t as substantial as the ones made by teams already ahead of the Wizards in the standings.
With their playoff window closing, where do the Washington Wizards go from here?
The Wizards do have something working in their favor: an easy schedule to end the season. If the Wizards battle through their relatively easy remaining games, they could wiggle their way into a play-in game. And maybe they can win their way into a first-round playoff series. But that’s almost certainly where it ends. At best, the Wizards make things fun but ultimately have a short-lived postseason run. At worst, they could play themselves out of a blue-chip prospect in what is being touted as a very talent-rich draft.
As of March 31, the Wizards are projected to get the 6th pick in the lottery. Anything could happen with those ping pong balls, but adding a few more L’s down the stretch would certainly help their chances of landing Cade Cunnigham, Jalen Suggs, or Jonathan Kuminga. And it wouldn’t necessarily hurt the team’s trajectory.
Like it or not, the Wizards aren’t a contending team as currently constructed. However, they have some exciting young players with potential. The Wizards know what they have in Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal. They could learn more about Deni Avdija, though. And they could definitely gain to learn more about newcomers Gafford and Hutchison. While we’re at it, let’s see if Rui Hachimura’s recent scoring burst (he’s scored 20+ points in six of his last 10 games) is legit or just a mirage. In other words, the Wizards would be better suited by turning things over to the young guys and prioritizing the players that will likely be here next season and beyond instead of leaning on veterans with expiring deals like Robin Lopez, Alex Len, and Ish Smith.
With so much money tied up in Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal over the next couple of seasons, the Wizards must get the most out of lottery picks like Hachimura and Avdija. They need to find value on the fringes in surprise contributors like Garrison Mathews. And they need to develop castaways with some upside like Gafford and Hutchison.
Westbrook already broke the franchise triple-double record, and Beal can — and probably will — get 25+ points no matter what the gameplan is. His scoring title and All-NBA selection are safe. Over the past season and a half, GM Tommy Sheppard has repeatedly said that the Wizards don’t want to compromise their future. If they let Beal and Westbrook maintain usage rates of 30+ during this final stretch instead of letting the young guys cook, win or lose, the Wizards would do just that.