The Wizards embrace their losing streak, strategically aiming for a top draft pick. Is this painful rebuild worth the potential franchise cornerstone?
With six games to go for the Washington Wizards, fans can see the light at the end of the tunnel of what’s been a long process of bottoming-out.
The Wizards are closing in on a third-straight season of 60 or more losses, with the hopes that their increased draft odds leads to more supreme young talent.
Despite a sizable gap a few weeks back between Washington, Sacramento, and Indiana, its finally made its way to the league’s worst record. Essentially, Washington controls its own destiny of its draft floor. If the Wizards finish with the worst record, they can pick no worse than fifth in the upcoming draft.
It hasn’t been an easy process to get to this point, obviously. Since February 1st, the Wizards have won just four games, with three of those wins against the Pacers and Jazz, two teams actively tanking games. The lone surprise win for Washington came on February 5th, when they defeated the Eastern Conference leading Detroit Pistons.
The art of losing with purpose is complicated. It weighs on fans, players, etc. Nobody enjoys losing this much. However, the Wizards remain committed to their plan.
Whether that plan has meant they’ve been sacrificing development or not is up to interpretation, but if you told me that’s the case, I won’t disagree. The games haven’t been easy to watch. From players experimenting new roles to inconsistencies in the lineups due to injuries, there hasn’t been much cohesion on the floor.
Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson, and Bilal Coulibaly have all been on the injury report for almost every night. Sometimes they end up playing, sometimes they don’t. Additionally, Kyshawn George, one of the team’s top young players hasn’t played since March 2nd due to an elbow injury. It’s not all black and white. There’s a reason why the product has looked tough recently, and the Wizards hope that juice is worth the squeeze.
The Wizards never hid that these would be the results. At general manager Will Dawkins’ preseason media availability, he said the Wizards’ rebuild was still in its early phase. If that wasn’t a diplomatic way of saying expect plenty of tough nights, I don’t know what is.
Washington’s floor of picking five would be a massive win for the franchise. Obviously, the fifth pick would be a worst case scenario situation, but a top-five pick in this draft has become invaluable compared to other recent years. That’s why it’s not just the Wizards actively losing the way they are.
The Pacers, Jazz, Mavericks, Bulls, Kings, Grizzlies, and Nets, all have been pretty uninterested in winning recently. They are all smart to have that mindset.
The consensus top-four prospects most of the year has been AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson. After four, opinions differ but between Keaton Wagler, Darius Acuff Jr., Kingston Flemings, etc, there’s plenty of top-tier talent.
The Wizards are searching for their franchise cornerstone. Getting that piece is easier said than done, but this draft has the potential to have multiple guys who could become just that.
For Washington, six games remain, A tilt with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday afternoon looks. That game could very well be for the league’s worst record. Washington holds a one-game lead over the Nets for the worst record. That game is day two of a back-to-back, which Washington has had little to no success with over the last few seasons.
Washington has signaled it’ll be ready to end this phase of the rebuild. The addition of Trae Young and Anthony Davis significantly raises the team’s floor if they remain healthy, which is a big if. However, the long-term plan should not be based around those two. Washington hopes its young pieces, including who they draft in two months, shows they are capable of growing into the next phase.
The question at hand; will the Wizards be able to flip on that competitive switch next year? It’s not unreasonable to wonder if the adjustment will take time. However, next year will very much be a sink or swim year for a lot of guys. An already crowded rotation full of players hungry for minutes will have less open spots. That type of competition in camp/preseason might be exactly what is needed to get that fire lit under the team.
Next year is supposed to look very different. It’s up to the Wizards to make sure it is. As the team embarks on the final six games of this tumultuous phase, the next phase of the rebuild is about to officially begin.