If you scour through almost any 2022-23 NBA season preview, you’d be hard-pressed to find any forecast that envisions the Washington Wizards finishing among the Eastern Conference’s top-six teams.
Can the Wizards really shock the league?
What would happen? Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porziņģis & Co. to earn a playoff berth outright, without having to go through the Play-In Tournament?
To answer those questions, we’ve brought together David AldridgeThe Athletic D.C. editor-in–chief, : Josh Robbins, The Athletic’s Wizards beat writer.
Josh Robbins: We both know what the other pundits say, don’t we, David? They say the East is better than it’s been in a long while. Look upAnd down last year’s standings, and it’s difficult to find in-conference rivals who’ve taken significant steps backward. Heck, the teams that finished seventh, eighth and ninth last season — Brooklyn, Atlanta and Cleveland — all look better than they performed a year ago.
To me, all those projections are spot on. To compete for a top six playoff spot, a lot must happen for the Wizards.
But, I’m serious.
