There weren't too many pundits that were optimistic about the Washington Wizards' chances of remaining a bit competitive for the 2023-24 season. After all, the Wizards traded away Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, effectively downgrading two spots of their starting five, and then handing the keys to the franchise to Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma, which isn't exactly the most consistent and stable duo. And to begin the season, the Wizards have, indeed, struggled, winning just once in six games to this point.

Nevertheless, the Wizards, like every other team that isn't in genuine contention to win the 2024 NBA championship, still have a chance to win some silverware via the NBA's In-Season Tournament. The Wizards, however, as is the case with everything they're going to do this season, will be facing an uphill climb in doing so, as they will battle against the likes of the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, and Charlotte Hornets for Group B supremacy.

NBA In-Season Tournament format, explained

Each team will play a guaranteed four games, one contest apiece against every member of their group. This will both count as regular-season games and NBA In-Season Tournament contests. Only the top team of the group is guaranteed to advance to the knockout stage. Thus, there will be three teams from each conference to advance to the eight-team, single-elimination quarterfinals stage. Two teams would then round out the proceedings by virtue of qualifying via the wild card — the best non-group winning team.

All NBA In-Season Tournament games, apart from the championship matchup, will count towards a team's regular-season record. (The NBA has adjusted teams' schedules for the sole purpose of accommodating this new tournament.)

Wizards' In-Season Tournament Schedule, Opponents, and Bold Predictions

Game 1: Miami Heat

  • Friday, November 3
  • 8:00 PM ET
  • Kaseya Center
  • Heat win 121-114

The Wizards, despite being heavy underdogs against Jimmy Butler and the Heat, kept this game close during the first half, with Poole and Kuzma doing the heavy lifting on offense. The Heat, however, woke up in the second half, outscoring the Wizards by 14 during the third quarter to go up by as many as 25 points during the final frame.

Washington simply went on a run to close out the game, trimming the Heat's lead to a “mere” 11 points before Miami pulled away in the final few minutes with some easy buckets from Butler and Tyler Herro.

A preview of what's to come, the Wizards simply won't have enough two-way juice to compete with most teams in the group, and the Heat, especially, stamped their class over a Washington team that's destined to finish near or at the basement of the league.

Game 2: Charlotte Hornets 

  • Friday, November 10
  • 7:00 PM ET
  • Capital One Arena

The Wizards' chances of winning certainly depend on what version of the Hornets show up on Friday. The Hornets have been a confusing bunch to begin the 2023-24 season, taking after LaMelo Ball's inconsistent shooting display thus far this season.

But the Hornets, from top to bottom, are a more complete team than the Wizards. The Hornets have some quality talent on the wings, with Gordon Hayward having a solid bounce-back campaign and Brandon Miller showing flashes of his incredible skillset, while they should also have the advantage on the interior, as Mark Williams and Nick Richards may be too much for Daniel Gafford to overcome.

What Washington will need during this game is an overdue scoring explosion from Jordan Poole, as it certainly looks like the Wizards won't have enough personnel to stop a Hornets team that's been getting into an offensive rhythm as of late. But knowing how Poole has performed this season to this point, it may be a fool's gambit to expect him to lead the Wizards to victory.

Game 3: New York Knicks

  • Friday, November 17
  • 7:00 PM ET
  • Capital One Arena

The Knicks, after a strong 2022-23 season, haven't been able to get it going in the early goings of the season, losing four out of their six games thanks in large part to some horrendous shooting displays from All-Star forward Julius Randle.

Randle, despite having many flaws to his game, won't shoot 27.1 percent from the field and 22.5 percent from deep forever; against a pillow-soft Wizards defense, expect the 6'8 forward to regain his rhythm, much to Washington's further demise.

Game 4: Milwaukee Bucks

  • Friday, November 24
  • 8:00 PM ET
  • Fiserv Forum

Like the Knicks, the Bucks look more disjointed than they've been in recent years. The Bucks are still acclimating to new head coach Adrian Griffin's system, while Damian Lillard, apart from a few scoring explosions, still looks like he's adjusting to life as Giannis Antetokounmpo's co-star. However, the talent disparity should still be too much for the Wizards to overcome, as Antetokounmpo and company should cruise to an easy victory over one of the worst teams in the league to go top of the group.

Final prediction: Wizards go 0-4, fail to make knockout stage