The Washington Wizards have been dreadful this season. They have the worst record in the league by a good margin, and when you watch the team play, it becomes clear that they earned that distinction through their play. This can be somewhat justified because the team is deep into a rebuilding process after years of mediocrity, but how bad can a team be before it becomes unacceptable, regardless of the intent? This is what I will be evaluating in this article: are the Wizards taking the right steps in their rebuild, or is their awful performance doing more harm than good?
A 6-40 record midway through the season is bad enough on the surface level, but when you dive into the numbers, things get even worse. For starters, the team has had two 15-game losing streaks this season, this feat of ineptitude hasn’t been done since 2011, when the Charlotte Bobcats (now named Hornets) went 7-59 in a strike-shortened season.
Being in company with a team notorious for how bad they were isn’t a good look, but does it get any better when looking at the on-the-court performance? Short answer: no. Dead last in the league for average score margin at an embarrassing -14.7, last in points given up per game at 122 a game, second to last in three-point percentage at 32.9%, second to last in effective field goal percentage at 50.9%, the numbers tell a story about the Wizards season so far, and it isn’t a good one.
The eye test is just as bad as the numbers. It isn’t uncommon for the team to be down by 30 at halftime or almost 20 by the end of the first quarter. The team gets completely overwhelmed from start to finish against even other lottery teams; it isn’t a lack of talent issue as much as it is an effort issue.
Coming into games looking flat and looking almost unprepared has been the main reason for many of the Wizards losses. No team should be getting beat by an average of 15 points, no matter how bad the roster is, the constant blowouts make you wonder about the game plans being drawn up before the ball is even tipped off.
There have been some bright spots on this team though and it mostly comes from the younger players or surprises that nobody expected. The Wizards are on pace to be one of the worst teams ever from a statistical perspective but there are at least some things to look forward to.
Alex Sarr has proven to be a potential cornerstone of the future, thanks to his defensive prowess and offensive potential. Bilal Coulibaly has shown great flashes and growth this season from his last. Jordan Poole has had a surprising bounce-back year after a disappointing start to life in Washington. Bud Carrington has shown flashes as a ball handler and shotmaker in his debut season. Combine these players with a guaranteed lottery pick to select another prospect to add to the rebuild, and you have a good foundation to build on as the years go by.
Sarr and Bilal present a great defensive backbone for the future, while Poole and Carrington are both offensive players who can be spark plugs and sources of offense (although Poole is more ahead in terms of his skill set and development). These players give the Wizards potential options in terms of who they select in the upcoming draft.
If they want to further solidify their defensive front while adding a lot of versatility they can add Cooper Flagg. If they’d prefer to get a primary ball handler to build their team around Dylan Harper would be the guy Washington should go with. There are other great prospects in the draft but those two are by far the most exciting and any Wizards fan would be happy to have either of them
This season has been one to forget for the Wizards in many ways. They are one of the worst teams ever on paper and have been getting beaten like a drum for a large majority of the season. Everyone knew the Wizards would be bad when they started the rebuild (perhaps not this bad) and that the rebuild would be a long and rather painful process.
This season can be seen as a step in that painful process. It is awful that the Wizards are historically bad, but there are at least pieces that the team can build with and draft, it will take a while to build this team up to something respectable, but that simply comes with the territory of resetting the team. Wizards fans can only hope that hitting rock bottom comes with success in the future.
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