Heading into the offseason, the Washington Wizards should choose to pay one of Kyle Kuzma or Kristaps Porzingis, not both.
With just six games left in the regular season, time is running out for the Washington Wizards in their pursuit of snagging one of the final spots in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament. With a week and a half left in the regular season, the Wizards find themselves sitting in 11th place and two games back of the 10th-seeded Chicago Bulls.
The Wizards are not mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, but making up two games in the standings with only six games remaining seems like an extremely unlikely outcome. That means the Wizards are going to miss the playoffs for the second season in a row. Overall, the team has only made the postseason once in the last five seasons.
The Washington Wizards should pivot for their original offseason plan
Heading into the offseason, something has to change. This is a franchise that seems lost at the moment and could be on the verge of making an even bigger mistake. According to recent reports, the Wizards seem to be moving forward with their plan of trying to re-sign both Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis.
But I’d argue that re-signing both Kristaps and Kuzma would be a mistake. Instead, the team should probably prioritize one of Kristaps or Kuzma and not both.
I’m not saying that the duo of Kristaps and Kuzma doesn’t work together. The advanced stats say that it does. And the three-man lineup of Bradley Beal, Kuzma, and Kristaps isn’t bad either. However, the big question is whether this trio is good enough to make a big jump in the Eastern Conference standings next season.
And, quite frankly, there isn’t enough evidence that would suggest that it can.
In 35 games this season in which Kristaps, Beal, and Kuzma played together this season, the Wizards were just 16-19. So this isn’t a “what if” move either. We know that this trio, while good in their own right, isn’t a sleeping giant by any means.
The Wizards, with this trio as their core, would be essentially what they’ve been this season. At best, they’re a 6-8 seed in the East. And at worst, they’re probably a lottery or a fringe Play-In Tournament team.
If the Wizards’ big plan of the offseason is merely bringing back the same exact team (and doing so with long-term intentions on top of it), it would be a massive misstep. I understand the Wizards want to keep building around Beal, but I’m not sure this is a path that will lead to the success that they’re hoping for.