The Washington Wizards opened the season eyeing 50 wins and a spot among the top four in the Eastern Conference.
Ahem.
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The goal is now to finish a little bit lower. That way, perhaps something good can come out of this season. The problem is, the Wizards (17-31) have competition in the quest for futility.
So there’s a decent chance that this dreadful season could still result in, say, the eighth pick in the draft or worse. In other words, typical Wizards karma.
Here’s our handicap of this race:
The lock » New Jersey (4-48) will end up with the worst record, maybe of all-time. But be warned: Only twice in the last 19 lotteries has the worst team won the first pick.
No. 2 and No. 3 » This could be the most important one considering this spot has combined to win the lottery eight times in the last 20 years. Minnesota (13-40) and Golden State (14-37) are likely winners in this race. It’s still hard to picture the dismantling Wizards sneaking below these two.
The rest » There is a big glut in this group along with the Wizards: New York (19-32), Detroit (18-33), Indiana (18-34), Sacramento (18-34) and even the Los Angeles Clippers (21-31) now that they’ve traded Marcus Camby. The Knicks will stumble with 18 of their last 31 on the road; the Kings are 13-12 at home so they might not fade as much. We like the Wizards to edge out this group for No. 4 overall. Finally, something to celebrate.
– John Keim
