To say that the Wizards have gotten off to a rough start would be an understatement. At 1-4 heading into their Sunday night clash with the Clippers, the Wizards continue to struggle with consistency and playing to their competition. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that they have yet to have the services of Dwight Howard, putting the team at a major disadvantage on the glass on a nightly basis.
Ian Mahinmi and Jason Smith have struggled to fill that void, while inconsistent effort has plagued the team on the defensive end. While John Wall and Bradley Beal are putting up solid numbers, the team continues to struggle closing out games and getting a full team effort on a nightly basis.
With Otto Porter struggling with his shot (and confidence) and the team going on an early West coast road trip, it’s easy to see why the Wizards have stumbled out of the gates.
Despite their early bumps, it’s very possible that Howard returns, Porter shakes off the slump and the team picks things up to regain its footing in the Eastern Conference. After all, it can’t get much worse than it has so far for the Wizards. The hope will be that Howard provides much-needed rim protection and rebounding while Wall, Beal and Porter work together more to attack defenses from all areas of the court.
Luckily for the Wizards, they aren’t the only team to get off to a slow start. The 76ers are just 3-3, the Celtics have had a modest 4-2 start, and both the Rockets and Thunder sit at 1-4.
With that being said, how good you think the Wizards can be this season? Are they a contender in the East, a team that barely makes the playoffs, or a team that misses the playoffs altogether? Vote below in the poll and share your thoughts in the comments section!
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We can still make the playoffs even though we are off to a 1-5 start(we lost tonight). The east isn’t all that strong.
The Wizards are still playing rn
They are a train wreck right now, but should still make it…… But man they need to find some of that fire from 2 years ago when they took the celts to 7. They just look sort of defeated.
That’ll happen when Kelly Olynyk crushes your soul in a Game 7.
Lol Kelly Olynyk
I liked their offseason moves, but when it came time to predict, I put them at 10th behind Hornets & Bulls. Almost put the Nets ahead of them too. What?? Where did that come from?
I am a Wall critic, but still. They seem loaded enough.
I agree, Wall is not a max guard. He showed me everything I need to know in Game 7 against the Celtics when he should have put his team on his back to win the series. Instead of Isaiah Thomas put his team on his back and won the series. Wall disappeared couldn’t make a shot. Bradley Beal is the heart and soul of that team, not wall.
Why were they 4-2 Celtics even mentioned in this?
Oh just wait until the real cancer(Dwight Howard) comes back.
I cannot imagine the Wizards above any of the Raptors, Celtics, Bucks or Sixers. And I think Pacers, Pistons and Heat are very likely to be better than Washington as well. For me, the Wizards will be fighting with the Hornets for the very last PO spot. I would be tempted to include the Bulls in the mix for the 8th seed, if not for Fred Hoiberg.
Wall is cancer
While it is just six games into the season that small sample size doesn’t bode well for the Wizards. The way things have played out I don’t see them being better than any of the eight teams currently occupying playoff spots and at best I see them finishing 9th, and that’s on the assumption that things normalize and level out for them given that this is largely the same team that made the playoffs last year.
However, because of that very fact (the only additions being Rivers, Howard, and Green) I just don’t see them being well equipped to make any big runs given how they’ve played. Howard will solve their rebounding issues to an extent, but that’s basically going from a 1 to a 1.5 in switching out Mahinmi as the starting centre (they only marginally get better).
They’re currently dead last in OPP PPG, third last in negative point differential, 19th in offensive rating (despite being 5th in pace) and 23rd in defensive rating.
Simply put the Wizards really don’t have an option to play small ball and succeed for long stretches against an Eastern Conference that I would argue has closed the gap with the Western Conference (the West is still better overall, but the East has a better top four imo).
Again to be fair to the Wizards a 5-game western road trip off the bat isn’t the easiest way to start the season, but at the same time an 0-2 start against two teams who were on the tail end of a back-to-back isn’t inspiring either. They do have an easier stretch to gain ground in early Nov. from the 4th-16th where they get teams like the Knicks, Magic (twice), Mavs, Nets, Cavs and Heat, but anything less than a 4-3 record in those games and the picture looks bleaker.
The defining stretch of their season that will make or break them will likely come in January from the 4th-24th. A three-game road trip against the Heat, Thunder, and ends with a home-and-home series with Philadelphia before continuing a six-game homestand against the Bucks, Raptors, Knicks, Pistons and Warriors will shape their plans heading into the trade deadline.
Wizards now 1-5. Waxed by 32 last night by the mediocre Clippers.
Can you even find a trade for Porter? Over 50M next 2 yrs
Losing at home to a Kawhi-less Raptors was super telling.
I think the Gortat-Rivers trade hurts them more than one might think at first. Gortat really elevated this team. Maybe Howard helps a bit, but I’m not super optimistic.
How long until they fire Scott Brooks? And shouldn’t Ernie Grunfeld be fired around the same time?
Lots of Wall haters here, which is understandable, but I still think he’s a top 20 talent that can play like a top 10 talent some nights. The team around him (and Beal) is just garbage, and Brooks’ coaching has been questionable at best.
It seems like they have a culture problem every year. Reminds me of the Chris Paul Clippers… good players, bad team. Time to blow it up.