Wizards will finish with the worst record in the East, but not in the entire NBA
There is a consensus that the Washington Wizards will be the worst team in the league next season. Sportsbooks set the line for the win total for the Wizards at 24.5, the lowest number in the NBA.
This makes sense. Following the departures of Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, and Monte Morris, there is a dearth of high-end talent on the roster. The team will certainly struggle to be competitive against high-level competition.
However, the Wizards also have plenty of competent NBA-caliber players. Usually, teams that struggle the most in the NBA are ones that play a lot of rookies and inexperienced players. The Wizards, on the other hand, will start the season with capable rotation-level players across all positions.
A rotation that has Tyus Jones, Delon Wright, Jordan Poole, Deni Avdija, Kyle Kuzma, Corey Kispert, and Daniel Gafford is better than your regular “worst teams in the NBA” like the Houston Rockets or the Detroit Pistons of the last few years.
Yet, unless the Wizards have a fire sale in the middle of the season and part ways with the majority of their competent players, they shouldn’t be the worst team in the league. The San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trail Blazers (assuming Damian Lillard gets traded) should have a worse record, especially considering that the Western Conference is a conference stacked with talent and high-level teams once again.
The Detroit Pistons and the Charlotte Hornets will likely struggle all season too, but being in a weaker Eastern Conference should help them rack up more wins than their Western Conference counterparts. However, both teams are desperately trying to be competitive and better than last year. This should help them win more games than Washington, pushing the Wizards all the way to the bottom of the conference.