The Washington Wizards are certainly not turning any heads these days, with the struggling Eastern Conference franchise currently finding itself slotted in 10th place ahead of only the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite the team's poor 19-26 record, the Wizards want to make it very clear that the franchise is not tanking. Wizards head coach Scott Brooks stated Sunday that his team would not be using the seemingly lost 2018-19 season to tank, a statement that almost immediately followed similar words from owner Ted Leonsis.
In fact, Brooks went as far as to say that he doesn't even understand the term:
Scott Brooks on Ted Leonsis saying the Wizards will never, ever tank: "My job and our team's job is to go out there and give great effort. And I think we have been doing that." pic.twitter.com/JwUjJMrKQ7
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 20, 2019
Washington recently lost All-Star point guard John Wall to a lingering left heel injury, a setback that required surgery to correct. Though the team still has fellow guard Bradley Beal leading the way offensively, the Wizards are in no position to compete with the teams currently perched atop the Eastern Conference standings, though they have somehow managed to go 6-4 in their last 10 games.
Even though the Wizards won't throw in the towel before the calendar flips to February, losing a few games surely wouldn't hurt the team in the long run. The Wizards have been unable to fully break out under the leadership of Wall and Beal, while the 2019 NBA Draft class has quite a bit of firepower to aid a potential turnaround. Speculation also has it that the Wizards could be tearing apart their core sometime in the near future — that is, if there are any takers for Wall's huge contract.
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