Fansided

The Whiteboard: Dwight Howard is going to destroy the Washington Wizards

By Ti Windisch

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards puts up a shot in front of Dwight Howard #8 of the Atlanta Hawks during the first half at Verizon Center on March 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards puts up a shot in front of Dwight Howard #8 of the Atlanta Hawks during the first half at Verizon Center on March 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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The Washington Wizards fragile team chemistry will soon welcome Dwight Howard to the fold. This can only go well.

The Washington Wizards have always felt like a team that was just one big meltdown away from completely combusting. Some very strange stories have come out of Washington in the John Wall era, especially when it comes to the relationship between Wall and backcourt-mate Bradley Beal.

Wall famously said he and Beal need to get over their “tendency to dislike each other on the court,” whatever the hell that means. The Wizards played well as a team without Wall and that, plus a couple of vague quotes from Beal and Marcin Gortat, really riled up Wall this past season.

There are more examples–Google has a combined 580,000 search results for “John Wall Bradley Beal beef” and “John Wall Marcin Gortat beef”–but suffice it to say that the Wizards are not always happy campers. The Gortat trade was at least partially made to dissolve one of the bigger feuds on the team, although Austin Rivers will have his hands full trying not to piss anybody off.

Washington’s front office, in a clear attempt to tempt fate, has decided to introduce Dwight Howard into the mix. Dwight has played for four head coaches in the last three years, none of whom still are employed by the team they were when Dwight was there. Kobe Bryant famously (infamously?) said that he didn’t appreciate playing with Shaquille O’Neal until he endured playing with Dwight. Et cetera, et cetera.

This is a very boom or bust scenario for the Wizards. Washington is at its best as a team when the Wizards manage to harness all of this negative energy and unleash it together on a common foe. If the Wizards manage to channel all of the hate they will certainly have for each other at the other 29 NBA teams, they might have a nice season.

Or they could absolutely implode, resulting in numerous hit pieces sourced by members of the team and some sort of forced trade by one of the involved parties. Either way, there will be plenty of intrigue (but hopefully no weapons this time around) in the Washington locker room.

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