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Let’s face it, the Washington Wizards aren’t very good. They’re a playoff contender in name only. To make the playoffs, they need to win enough games to reduce Orlando’s 5.5 game lead down to 4. Then they would have to win twice against Orlando without losing once. (Still following me after all that?)
Especially, with Davis Bertans now sitting out, it seems pretty unlikely that they win many games in “the bubble.” To be fair, I’m not sure the organization actually cares. They want to appease Bradley Beal by saying they tried, protect their upcoming lottery pick, and get their young guys some additional experience before next year.
I expect the Wizards to go 3-5. They’ll beat Phoenix because they also stink and probably don’t want to win. They’ll lose to a very mediocre Brooklyn team because that would actually help their playoff prospects and that’s what the Wizards do.
The Wizards tend to have respectable outings against good but not great teams so a win against Philadelphia seems appropriate. And then their third and final win will likely come in their final two games against either Milwaukee or Boston. Neither team will have anything to play for by then and it wouldn’t be surprising to see either team rest their stars.
This year was always supposed to be a development year for the Wizards. They added Jerian Grant off of their G League team to fill spot vacated by Bertans. If they make any additional moves, expect more of the same. This is not the time for any “win-now” roster additions. Anyone else they add should be essentially auditioning for a spot on next year’s roster.
The Wizards will have to make a decision this offseason about whether or not they want to pay Shabazz Napier to come back. They have a BRINKS truck worth of money committed to John Wall and Ish Smith has another year on his contract. Investing in Napier as well seems like overkill but they could use a third point guard next season.
And that brings us back to Jerian Grant. Grant is a former first-round pick who hasn’t been able to get any long term traction in the NBA. Grant’s three-point shooting has always been the biggest question mark in his game. He managed to shoot over 40 percent from three for the Capital City Go-Go and the Wizards hope that is sustainable.
Expect to see lots of minutes go to the Wizards’ young players like Rui Hachimura, Jerome Robinson, and Troy Brown Jr. Hachimura in particular expects to be a prime beneficiary of Bertans’ absence. It’s been reported that Hachimura has shown back up at the Wizards’ training facility with a drastically improved three-point shot.
If the Wizards have any hope of being competitive when play resumes, they will need their young players to overachieve. Five of their eight games are against teams that have secured their playoffs spots.
Even without Kelly Oubre, Phoenix still has Devin Booker who is good enough to give them a puncher’s chance in any game. DeAndre Ayton is also probably eager to assert himself in matchups against the Wizards’ young bigs, Thomas Bryant and Moe Wagner.
The Brooklyn Nets are without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving for the rest of the year. But that’s been the case for much of the year anyway. Guards Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris Levert are more than enough to take down the Wizards if no one steps up to help Bradley Beal. Holding onto the seventh seed is important for the Nets as it means they could avoid playing the Bucks in the first round.
The Pelicans are currently outside the playoff picture but were coming on strong before play was suspended in March. Adding a healthy Zion Williamson to the mix made them dangerous enough to beat anyone in the league. They have a much more legitimate shot of making the playoffs than the Wizards so odds are they will be more motivated by the time the two teams square off. At the very least the Bradley Beal versus Jrue Holiday and Zion Williamson versus Rui Hachimura match-ups should be interesting to watch.
In summary, expect to see the Wizards lineups get younger and younger as they move through their schedule. Wins may be scarce but they’re probably happy with any moral victories they can walk away with. As a Wizards fan, I’m just ready to see what they can do with a healthy roster next year. Fingers crossed!
Big thank you to Matt Modderno for contributing this Wizards bubble preview as a guest writer. Check out his podcast Bleav in Wizards with Larry Hughes. Keep an eye on Belly Up Sports for previews of all 22 NBA teams set to play in The Bubble.
