The Wizards' Struggles Could Lead to Changes

By Colby Giacubeno

The Washington Wizards came into the 2015-16 season regarded as one of the teams in the Eastern Conference that could realistically contend with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Already 25 games into the season, and that isn’t the case at all. 

 The Wizards are currently 11-14, good enough for the 12th seed in the East. The new uptempo offense that succeeded tremendously in the playoffs last season has done the complete opposite this season. John Wall is still having an impressive season individually averaging 19.9 points, 9.0 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game, but it obviously hasn’t been enough to consistently come out on the winning side.

Bradley Beal is struggling again with a stress fracture injury that has haunted him since his rookie season. The injury has forced him to miss eight games already. Nene and Drew Gooden have been missing games dealing with a calf injury, Otto Porter is dealing with an ailing thigh, and Alan Anderson has still yet to step on the floor as a Wizard since undergoing ankle surgery.
  
The injury bug bites a handful of teams each season, this just so happens to be the Wizards’ year for it. But even with injuries, the expectations behind this team aren’t going to disappear for that excuse. If the Wizards want to be in any running for Kevin Durant next summer, they have to show him they are willing to do whatever is needed to win. Where do they go from here? 


There have been whispers about head coach Randy Wittman’s job security all season long. Watching this team play makes it seem like they aren’t buying into what Wittman is telling them. Wittman has continuously called out his players post-game about being too soft or not doing what they practice. That type of behavior doesn’t sit well in the locker room. The only problem with firing him now is depending on a coach from the bench to step in as an interim. None of the coaching staff besides Wittman has head coaching experience, so would it really be the right move to make? 

There have been a number of teams announcing that their players are on trading blocks. Dwight Howard in Houston may be dealt before the trade deadline, New Orleans’ Ryan Anderson, and now Boston Celtics’ David Lee. I’m not sure any of these players really make sense for the Wizards right now, but if you had to choose, Dwight Howard would make the biggest impact. 

Trading for Howard would mean having to give up possibly both Marcin Gortat and Nene. Is a guy who has proven to be injury prone and hard to satisfy worth giving up the future with Gortat? Some think so. 

It’ll be interesting to see what the near future will hold for the Wizards. One thing is clear—a change has to be made. What change will that be? We can only wait and see.

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