Teams play only about a handful of games in the NBA Cup, so making thorough assessments can be quite difficult. The first two in-season tournament champions, the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, were both eliminated in the first round of the playoffs following their big victories in Las Vegas. The Atlanta Hawks, who won just 40 games last season, went all the way to the semifinals in the 2024 NBA Cup. Therefore, breaks from the norm are quite common in this tourney, except if you are the Washington Wizards (1-14).
In a competition loaded with plenty of surprises — the Portland Trail Blazers currently lead the “Group of Death” — fans can count on this Eastern Conference squad for some consistency. The Wizards have been arguably the most abysmal franchise in the NBA since the 2023-24 campaign began, amassing a 34-145 record during that span. Fans cannot even get a reprieve from the misery at the NBA Cup.
Washington's 140-110 defeat to the Toronto Raptors on Friday night, which marked its 13 straight loss, gave the team an 0-2 record in East Group A and an 0-10 all-time record in the in-season tournament. The Wizards are the only team to never win an NBA Cup game. Yikes!
Is there any end in sight to the Wizards' despair?
This tourney was the squad's only chance of having competitive aspirations, and now that is basically over. No rational individual envisioned Washington advancing to the playoffs, but there was some hope that veterans CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton could move this excruciating rebuild along a bit. Instead, the team is just as awful, posting a league-worst -17.2 points differential through its first 15 games, per ESPN.
There are multiple reasons to believe that the Wizards are making slight progress despite their record. Center Alex Sarr is averaging 18.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. Fellow second-year player Kyshawn George is shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range. And rookie Tre Johnson is scoring a solid 11.4 points on 44.5 percent shooting from the field in 24.3 minutes per contest. But after setting a new franchise single-season loss record in back-to-back years, individual growth is not enough.
General manager Will Dawkins and head coach Brian Keefe need improved results from this group. Winning 25 games should not be an insurmountable task. The Wizards will try to earn their first NBA Cup triumph when they host the Hawks (9-7) on Tuesday, but players and fans do not want to wait until next week to get a victory. The Wizards square off with the Chicago Bulls (8-7) in the United Center on Saturday, starting at 8 p.m. ET.
