It's hard to find an NBA team that is currently more of a mess than the Washington Wizards.
John Wall is expected to miss the entire 2019-20 campaign while he recovers from a torn Achilles, the club doesn't really know what the future holds for Bradley Beal and there isn't a whole lot of young talent on the roster.
And to think just two years ago, some were calling the Wizards one of the top up and coming teams in the Eastern Conference.
Now, Washington is getting set to enter a season full of questions, and with those questions comes quite a bit of pressure.
So, here are the three Wizards players under the most pressure going into 2019-20:
Washington re-signed Thomas Bryant to a three-year, $25 million deal this summer, committing to him as its top big man for the foreseeable future.
Bryant is coming off of an impressive season in which he averaged 10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds over 20.8 minutes per game while shooting 61.6 percent from the floor and 78.1 percent from the free-throw line, but now that the 22-year-old has gotten a decent payday, he will be expected to elevate his game next season.
While Bryant's game is very limited offensively, he has set quite the bar for himself in terms of efficiency, as he posted a ridiculous true-shooting percentage of 67.4 percent in 2018-19.
Yes, most of his buckets came around the basket, but he also made his free throws at a solid rate, a terrific quality for a young big.
But you know how the NBA works nowadays: if you aren't able to stretch the floor, you better be elite in at least one area, so it's up to Thomas Bryant to hone his skills on the glass and on the defensive end next year.
2. Bradley Beal
Bradley Beal isn't playing for a contract just yet, unless you count the $111 million extension the Wizards offered him earlier this summer.
He has two years remaining on his current deal, and barring unforeseen circumstances between now and the summer of 2021, Beal is probably nearing the end of his tenure in Washington.
While Beal hasn't outright said that he wants out, you have to imagine his clock is ticking, especially when he looks around the league and sees all of the player movement that has occurred.
But in order for Bradley Beal to establish himself as a truly elite player and have teams clamoring to trade for him, he needs to build on what was an impressive 2018-19 campaign.
That means becoming more consistent as a three-point shooter and as a defender.
It's hard to find a player in the NBA who deserves more sympathy than Isaiah Thomas.
Just two years ago, he looked like he was on his way to earning a max deal, but a hip injury led to the Boston Celtics trading him for Kyrie Irving after an MVP-caliber season.
Since then, Isaiah Thomas has not even been a shell of his former self. Actually, he hasn't even gotten a chance to prove that much, as he has played just 44 games over the last couple of years.
But the Wizards have decided to give Thomas a chance on a one-year deal, which may also represent Thomas' final shot to show the rest of the league that he still has something left in the tank.
Remember: this is a guy just two years removed from averaging 28.9 points per game, so if he can show that he can still score at an efficient clip this coming season, he might garner enough interest to land a deal with someone next summer.
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