In the world, there are two categories of franchises. Those who have a gun, and those who dig. According to our estimates, the Washington Wizards passed beyond the mesosphere during February and are still digging towards the Earth’s core.
What TrashTalk announced
From October, Bastien sets the color with his Gérard d’Or: “There are few players I’m as excited to see this season in the NBA as Jordan Poole with the Wizards (…) He’s going to average 28 points.” How to throw the stone? Everything was aligned, and in hindsight it’s still very funny. If Bastien and Alex had positioned the capital well in the last and penultimate places in the east, they had dared to overestimate the number of victories, announcing 23 and 25 successes in the District of Columbia. Here again, how can we blame them? The big question is more relevant than ever: “Are the Wizards the least advanced team in the entire league in their rebuild?.
What really happened
The Creuse department number (23) is eight units higher than the Wizards’ number of victories in 2023-24 (15). And digging has been the theme of the season. From the opening night, Washington lost 143 points against the Pacers (without overtime obviously), and the bar of 140 units collected is exceeded 10 – TEN – times during the year. The best defensive match of the season, with only 96 points in the bag one evening in March, came in… a defeat. And against the Pistons, you have to do it.
In short, nothing was easy for the little wizards. But beyond the results, the manner is particularly hideous. Jordan Poole, heralded hero, obviously didn’t care and was throwing random shots without bothering to do anything else. Kyle Kuzma posted his stats, thanks for the TTFL, but we have memories of games wasted due to losses of the ball as weird as they are hilarious. In short, even Wes Unseld Jr. got fired in this mess, even though he had just been extended, of course.
A little hot chocolate with a marshmallow in the middle of a buffet of English gastronomy, French rookie Bilal Coulibaly was one of the only rays of hope. Defense, counters and posters, but he couldn’t prevent the longest losing streak in franchise history. 16, between January 31 and March 7. Final score of 15-67, ultimate dunce cap since the creation of a basketball team in Washington. Just that.
The Wizards season in a few articles
The image of the season
The legendary Shaqtin’ A Fool column, in which we found the wizards (not to mention Jordan Poole) literally all season. Briquasses sent onto the ceiling of the room, ever more original losses of bullets and a general atmosphere of the Pinder circus. So much fun.
Why we can smile
Let’s try to see the glass half full. Or rather, if we can look at the container from below, at a good angle and facing the sun in week B, we can imagine that things will be fine. Deni Avdija delivered the best season of his career (15 points and 6 rebounds with great efficiency), and seems to form a relatively nice pair on the wings with Bilal Coulibaly. Even Marvin Bagley III, who arrived at the deadline, was quite comfortable in the paint. Above all, this catastrophic season was “rewarded” with a nice second choice in the 2024 NBA Draft, which can bring great talent to the capital. Washington was bad, but we can smile and say that the future is bound to be brighter. Small draft picks were even recovered discreetly at the deadline, we have to be optimistic!
Why we can be angry
Yes, Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma – the two franchise players at the moment – are under contract until 2027. And if we look at the Washington Wizards roster, we wonder how to find the player on whom to start a great reconstruction. The Avdija – Coulibaly pair, despite the potential, does not have the shoulders. And unfortunately, the 2024 Draft does not seem to be full of Wembanya-mesque nuggets to make an entire fanbase smile. So if we look ahead a little, there is a risk of severe tanking next year, and perhaps at least the year after that. We therefore arrive at this famous hinge 2026-27, Jordan Poole’s contract year. We still hope that the franchise will have moved by then. Because it really makes you laugh, we won’t hide it from you. We still remember that Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis were sent to the other end of the league for a melted twix and a commemorative t-shirt a few months ago. No good players, no palace, and no palace, no palace.
And what’s next?
Next step, the 2024 NBA Draft. With the second choice, the Wizards can recover a young talent (Alex Sarr, Rob Dillingham, Zaccharie Risacher or Donovan Clingan) to start to show a smile. Then, we will have to manage the Tyus Jones file, free agent this summer, before tanking and trying to recover picks here and there. We grant you, it doesn’t make you dream, but the options are not legion. But maybe Jordan Poole will go through a big challenge this summer and become the playmaker of the future, you never know. No ? We never know…
The 2023-24 Washington Wizards season is officially over, thanks for the memes, losses and TTFL spots. In October, we take almost the same ones and start again?
