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The Wizards’ record this season (34-38) is better than the Suns record last season (34-39).
Phoenix traded for Chris Paul and is now ahead 2-1 in the NBA Finals, giving hope to every mediocre team trying to convince themselves that there is only one piece.
But maybe Washington won’t fall for this trap.
Tom Haberstroh on “Standig Room Only”
Reading the tea leaves and from what I understand chatting with other leaders, I think the Washington Wizards, instead of saying, “We could be the next Phoenix Suns,” I think they look at this and say, “We can be the next Oklahoma City Thunder and try to rebuild and rebuild from the ground up.”
The Thunder traded Paul George and Russell Westbrook for major assets, kicking off what looks like a successful rebuild.
The Wizards have a highly coveted player in Bradley Beal. While he has on several occasions gone out of his way to assert his loyalty to Washington, that is not for him to decide. The Wizards can trade him in whenever they want and would get a big comeback.
But wizards cannot be suns or thunder.
Players as good as Chris Paul are rarely available for such a low price. Phoenix had Paul so cheap only because he’s so old and so expensive. It was a risk that was worth it at the time, and it worked wonderfully. But Washington will almost certainly not have the same opportunity, let alone the same outcome.
The Suns also had a better roster of up-and-coming young players – Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges. As good as Beal is, Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija are nowhere near making the jump. Russell Westbrook (32) has been going in the wrong direction for years and Davis Bertans has really disappointed this season.
As for the Thunder, they got more for Paul George than the Wizards for Beal. Oklahoma City just caught the perfect storm from the Clippers desperately trying to impress Kawhi Leonard (who worked). Plus, the Thunder had a lot for Westbrook… and Jerami Grant… and finally Steven Adams… and finally Chris Paul. The Thunder had a path best list to take apart. Therefore, they have a much greater head start on reconstruction than Washington would.
Wizards to sink into a reconstruction would also be a radical change of course.
Maybe they will rotate. Beal is eligible for a significant contract extension later this offseason. If he doesn’t sign it, that could push Washington to trade him rather than allow him unrestricted free agency in 2021. After all his loyalty rhetoric, Beal not signing the extension would serve as a strong signal to the Wizards.
But sometimes it seems like there are some wishful thinking / projections that occur when wizards are discussed outside of Washington. Many teams want to poach Beal. A lot of people see the NBA through a championship or bust lens, which would push the Wizards to rebuild themselves. But Beal has expressed atypical loyalty to Washington. The Wizards might just keep it and stay in the playoff conversation rather than accept a lower floor looking for a higher cap.
So, I’m not totally convinced that Washington will try (and fail) to be Oklahoma City rather than try (and fail) to be Phoenix.
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