After a loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday, the Washington Wizards became the first Eastern Conference team to be mathematically eliminated from the NBA playoffs.
The Wizards share the unfortunate distinction of early playoff elimination with the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference. On the flip side, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Oklahoma City Thunder have all already clinched non-play-in playoff berths.
Of course, the playoffs were never in the cards for the Wizards from the opening tip of their very first game of the season. But to be eliminated from play-in contention with 13 games to play in this iteration of the Eastern Conference is a truly impressive display of futility.
The Wizards recently picked up four wins in six tries, and the margin of victory across those four wins was just 11 total points. Those wins could all have easily been losses, and Washington would have been knocked out even earlier than they already were.
The Wizards’ early elimination is so impressive because one would have to travel up the standings all the way to the sixth seed to find an Eastern Conference team with either a winning record or a positive net rating. The seventh seeded Atlanta Hawks currently sit with a 34-36 record and a -1.9 net rating, meaning that every play-in team in the East has a losing record and yet the Wizards still managed a staggeringly early elimination.
Currently, the Hawks, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, and Miami Heat are the four play-in teams in the East. The Heat in particular are not a playoff-caliber team — they’ve lost 10 straight games and shipped their best player off at the trade deadline, yet they still comfortably hold the tenth seed and will only need two wins in the play-in to secure a spot.
To be eliminated this embarrassingly early means the Wizards absolutely must secure the top lottery odds. They currently hold the worst record in the NBA by a mere half-game, as they are working to stave off a late-season tankapalooza by Utah Jazz.
What happens for the remainder of the Wizards’ season is the predictable song and dance of a late-season tanking team. The rookies and reclamation projects will get a good deal of burn alongside a staggering number of guys in Wizards jerseys who you’ve never heard of. Such is life with a prospect like Cooper Flagg on the horizon.