6. Washington Wizards
It’s obvious that the Wizards aren’t at their best just yet. Not having Markieff Morris, for instance, leaves them thin up front. Defensively, they are still getting locked in and organized, even as their offense ranks among the league’s five best after a week of basketball. They also are not shooting a ton of 3s, something they’ve talked about improving on over the last year. But two wins are two wins.
Right now, all the WIzards really need to do is keeping treading water while finding some consistency until Morris returns. Considering they may benefit most from the Celtics’ removal from the upper echelon, there is room for the Wizards to push for the East’s top seed. This week, despite some issues and some inconsistent play, yielded positive results. Games this week against good teams — the Warriors and Nuggets — and bad ones — the Lakers and Kings — offer the Wizards to both get some reps in and see exactly where they currently stand in the NBA’s pecking order.