John Wall and the Washington Wizards—a team of rentals so the front office can pursue Kevin Durant.
Sounds dramatic. But it seems there is some truth around the idea when it comes to the 10th-place Wizards, a team never really in the conversation for the playoffs, lacking an identity and leadership.
It’s one of the main points Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post makes in a new writeup while trying to explain why in the world the team has disappointed this season:
But trying to field a playoff-caliber team while maintaining that flexibility has backfired. With eight players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents this summer, not including guard Bradley Beal, a core member the team intends to sign, questions about commitment to the team have rumbled through the organization.
The impending free agents know they’re essentially rentals and the ones who aren’t know that the organization wasn’t all-in to win this season. Is it a coincidence that the team’s defense has plunged with this roster construction? To what extent did players perform for the name on the back of their jersey instead of the name on the front?
A miserable system that didn’t fit, uncertainty at head coach and injuries certainly didn’t help, as Castillo also mentions.
But the fact most of the team seemed to feel like a placeholder at best didn’t help. Players even before the season got underway went out and played for themselves knowing they would be without a job this summer. For most, they knew they probably wouldn’t be back in Washington, either, if the front office could lure a big name like Durant. How cohesive can a team of placeholders be? How motivated?
None of this is Durant’s fault, of course. He can’t control what suitors do and even if he told Washington it didn’t stand a chance, the front office likely wouldn’t change it’s behavior. But it’s just the latest example of a tank job or something close to it as the teams in the league find new ways to lure top talent to town.
And if it doesn’t work for Washington? Back to the drawing board—how many of these players will want to come back after such treatment?
Washington is all-in. If it fails, the Wizards don’t have anyone to blame but themselves.