When early October arrives, I get excited for the upcoming Wizards season. For the most part I am an optimistic fan. Even if the Wizards are not projected to do well, I still find something to be positive about. But I have to be honest. I am not all that excited for the upcoming season. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for the upcoming NBA season. But when it comes to the Washington Wizards, I’m just not.
Are the Washington Wizards projected to be a championship contender this upcoming season? No they are not. Sure it’s not always about winning a championship. But as a Wizards fan, I’m tired of simply contending for a playoff spot. Sure playoff basketball is always exciting, but the excitement quickly fizzles when your team doesn’t hang around for long. The excitement also dissipates when as a fan, you see other teams in your conference making big moves.
The Atlanta Hawks got Dejounte Murray. The Cleveland Cavaliers traded for Donovan Mitchell. The Philadelphia 76ers were able to maintain James Harden on a team friendly deal. Both teams are projected to be better than the Wizards this year. The Wizards didn’t make any moves this offseason that really pushed them into the top 5 in the Eastern Conference.
In my opinion anyways.
Wizards Offseason
This past summer, Washington signed Bradley Beal to a supermax contract. The first year of Beal’s deal is for 43 million. Kristaps Porzingis is going to make 33 millions dollars this upcoming season. Washington’s top two players are going to make a combined 76 million dollars this upcoming season. But the team isn’t expected to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Or even finish the season as a top 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. That’s deflating to me as a fan.
Makes me miss 2017, when the Wizards had Eastern Conference Finals aspiration. That’s why I was excited heading into the 2017-2018 season. But heading into this season, I feel like the aspirations of the team is to simply make the playoffs. That was fine in 2014 when the Wizards were led by a young John Wall and Bradley Beal. That was also fine in 2021, as the team was trying to get some positive momentum going. But it’s not fine now.
This Wizards team isn’t a bad team. There is depth on this roster. But all that talk about depth is just going to result in a first round exit in the playoffs. Or getting eliminated in the play-in tournament.
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