Nine games in, the Washington Wizards have been up and down this season. It's an improvement from being all down the prior two seasons, with a 33-131 record in that stretch, but they dropped to 4-5 on the young season following a loss to Atlanta. Upcoming contests against contenders, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Detroit Pistons, offer a challenge the Wizards have failed to show up for in the past and can set the tone for the rest of the season.
With a revamped roster headlined by household names Trae Young, Anthony Davis, and No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa, will this year be any different? These should be good measuring-stick games.
The Wizards have to make sure this two-game losing streak snaps quickly
After losing back-to-back games to the Hawks, six of the Wizards' next seven opponents are above .500, so if Wizards Head Coach Brian Keefe doesn’t right the ship, things could go south for his team. The group that was able to feast on the bare bones of the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, and Charlotte Hornets will be tested quickly.
It’s imperative that, to compete, guys like Young must shoot a higher percentage than what he’s been at thus far (41 percent from the floor, 29 percent from deep). Rookie sensation Dybantsa must shake off the rut he was in against the Hawks and bounce back into the 19-point scorer we saw in his first three career contests. Davis, despite his outstanding play so far this year, must be healthy enough to play.
Breakouts like Kyshawn George need to continue to build on his great third year. Seeing an uptick in production from guys like Alex Sarr and the reserves as a unit in general would also help.
The Wizards aren’t being asked to win all of these games but can try
The drawbacks to going into a full rebuild that eventually landed you a player with superstar potential such as Dybantsa is the fact that this Wizards team wasn’t taught how to respond to adversity when the going got tough.
The goal was to bottom out and lose for two years. However, there’s a new goal now, and how the Wizards play leading into Thanksgiving will determine whether change is truly here for a franchise that is desperate to make the postseason for the first time since 2021.
They can make a statement in these two upcoming games against a pair of contenders.
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