The entire Washington Wizards organization may be sitting in Cancun watching the NBA playoffs, but they are still in a better spot than the recently-eliminated Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies.
The Heat and Grizzlies were both victims of their respective conferences’ number one seeds. Both teams got mercilessly swept, and both are in precarious positions as franchises.
Washington has a lot to like on its roster despite having been substantially worse than both of these teams this season. They also own a treasure trove of incoming draft picks going forward, giving them a ton of chances to find true franchise players.
The Wizards may not be the model for franchise building in the NBA, but at least they are in a better spot than the Heat and Grizzlies.
Miami Heat
The Heat were dismantled in a four-game sweep by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The series, which featured a 55-point Game 4 clinching victory for the Cavs, set an NBA record as the most lopsided playoff series in history. Cleveland outscored Miami by 122 points across four games.
Miami’s roster is in a tough spot. The two best Heat players — Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo — are really solid pieces but are limited, especially as a team’s top two options. Herro is food on defense and Adebayo simply does not have a consistent enough offensive game to be a top-three option on a team with aspirations.
The tried-and-true Heat strategy of crossing their fingers that a bunch of role players will turn into the ‘96 Bulls did not work. Andrew Wiggins was awful in the playoffs, Duncan Robinson and Jaime Jaquez Jr. could not buy a bucket, and veterans like Alec Burks and Kyle Anderson barely saw the floor in the sweep.
Miami has been praying for a massive free agent to walk through the door for years, and all they’ve managed to pick up is the since-departed Jimmy Butler. They owe an unprotected first round pick to — who else — the Oklahoma City Thunder this season, but they have the benefit of mostly controlling their own picks for the foreseeable future otherwise.
That being said, with Herro and Adebayo, their floor is too high to properly capitalize on owning their own picks. They’re stuck in the Sacramento Kings zone of 35 to 40 wins for the next few years without any solid young pieces to build around.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies’ 48-34 record this season masked some deep roster issues that shone through in the playoffs.
The Grizzlies own the unenviable distinction of being due for a massive roster shakeup despite being stocked with stars and awesome role players. Ja Morant does not see the floor consistently enough and is too much of a wild card to be a sustainable franchise player, though he may be too important to the city and the franchise to trade.
Over the past two seasons, Jaren Jackson Jr. has stood in as the Grizzlies’ franchise player with Morant in and out of the lineup, and though he is a dream defensive anchor for any championship hopeful, he has been miscast recently as a number one offensive option in Memphis.
Desmond Bane is a fabulous shooter who would be my guess to be the player the Grizzlies move on from this summer. Shipping out Bane will probably buy the Grizzlies a year or two of excusable playoff losses before the real roster teardown begins.
Remember, this team first burst onto the scene in 2022. This is the fourth year of this group having deep playoff aspirations, and they have one single second round appearance in that time to show for it. Barring an expert roster retooling, the Memphis Grizzlies are on the clock.