Rebuilding process not much fun to observe
Wizards center JaVale McGee made the top-10 plays on “SportsCenter” for the second time in as many nights Wednesday with another stunning block, his 161st of the season. The swat of Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin — he sent the shot well past the first couple rows at Staples Center — was only slightly less impressive than his simultaneous block and steal from Portland guard Wesley Matthews the night before.
But the Wizards (17-53) still lost both games, remain two wins short of the franchise record-low with 12 games remaining and continue to settle for fleeting positives like McGee’s blocks.
“There is a price to pay in a rebuild, but the outcomes are worth it,” Wizards owner Ted Leonsis recently said on his blog. “I see the rebuild taking three full seasons. I know that is a lot to ask, but we have to be honest with everyone.”
The team Leonsis would love to emulate, Oklahoma City, has been as lucky as it has been savvy. Washington hasn’t been the latter, and it wasn’t the former until last year’s NBA Draft lottery.
The Wizards are often compared to the Thunder, and the analogy works at the start, with John Wall falling into Washington’s lap in the same way the former Seattle SuperSonics took Kevin Durant with the second overall pick in 2007. But the Thunder also snared Russell Westbrook with the fourth pick in 2008, and both became not only perennial All-Stars but NBA MVP candidates.
No potential member of the 2011 draft class is described in those terms, and the last time the Wizards had a top-10 pick who wasn’t No. 1 overall in 2009, they passed on Stephen Curry, who could have started their rebuild a year earlier.
The Wizards continue their five-game road trip out West against the Nuggets on Friday night.
