Since Danny Avdia came to the Washington Wizards and the NBA, he and his team have not fallen into a deep pit like in recent weeks.
Tonight's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers is the team's tenth in a row (the longest losing streak since 2012), it has a negative record of 11:20, and is placed 12th in the East, with only three teams on the East Coast having a worse record.
When the team opened this season with three stars in the form of Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis, the hopes were that after years of shuffling it would be able to rise and reach the playoff picture, but right now the Wizards are closer in ability to the Charlotte Hornets who are in last place, than to teams like the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks that are fighting for the play-in ticket.
A failed franchise.
Washington's results in recent seasons clearly indicate that it is one of the failed franchises in the league.
Since the 2016/17 season, the Wizards have failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs.
The stars, the coaches, and even the general manager have changed - but the business continues to falter.
And as in the past, it seems that with the removal of the protections for the free players who signed a contract in the summer, the time has come for the club to make decisions.
Washington is currently at a crossroads.
Although her balance sheet is negative, a streak of several victories can return her to the fight for the play-in and keep her season alive.
On the other hand, if you take a deep look at the team's situation, even advancing to the playoffs through the eighth place in some configuration, will end in a painful relegation.
Wizards players after another loss, photo: AFP
What doesn't work?
If you have to put your finger on the main things that haven't worked for Washington in recent seasons, you can't ignore
the draft picks.
And yes, Dani Avdia is also a part, even though he may not be the one to blame.
Zach Lowe summed it up not long ago accurately: "The last four picks of the Wizards in the draft contribute very little. Corey Kispert misses a lot of games, Danny Avdia has lost his confidence in shooting, Roy Hachimura is only okay and Johnny Davis who was selected this year is not playing at all."
The problem is also in the selection of the players who cannot be entirely blamed, but no less in the team's ability to develop and improve them as individuals.
If we take for example Avdia, whom we all know closely, and ask which aspect he improved significantly in two years in the team, we will have a hard time finding an answer.
He was an excellent defensive player even in his first season.
Regarding Avdia's part in the failure, Chase Hughes, the team's reporter at NBCSN, tells Israel Hayom: "You certainly can't complain about his work in defense, but in the offensive part, his percentages outside the arc are definitely problematic. He has a part like every player ".
This has been one of Deni Avdija's best games of the season and this was one of his best highlights of the season.
pic.twitter.com/4QHzDwRepN
— Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) December 17, 2022
Hachimura and Kispert.
No canals, photo: AP
The leading players.
Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma.
While all three provide impressive numbers (averages of over 21 points per game), none of them can be marked as a good factor in the team.
And in fact, this is what they are able to provide.
All three are very good individual attacking players, those who know how to create shots for themselves and at the end of the game their statistics sheet looks good.
But they throw a lot, hardly produce shots for the players next to them and mostly fail to lead their team to victories.
Coach.
Wes Anseld Jr. has no small part in the situation.
When he replaced the disappointing Scott Brooks, there were high hopes in Washington that he would be the one to pull the wagon out of the mud.
In his era, Washington's offensive game is very formulaic, and relies mainly on individual ability.
The youngsters did not improve, although he is considered a coach who specializes in promoting players.
And we haven't even started talking about the defense - despite the "belt of honor" he gives this season to the player who excels in it after every game, Avdia seems to be the only one who makes an effort on the less sexy side of the field.
Wes Anseld.
Not a small part of the failure, photo: AP
They will not rush to raise their hands.
So what options do Tommy Shepard have right now?
The first is "tanking" which means - giving up the upcoming season and trading the top players in order to get a high senior in the upcoming draft, what's more, we all know that a player like Victor Wombaniyama is not on the board every season, and emerges as a figure who can change the face of a failed franchise - and that's exactly it What the Wizards need.
Despite this, Chase Hughes says: "From my conversations with the players and coach Wes Anseld, the team believes that the injuries that afflict them have a large part in the crisis. I do not believe that we will see the club give up the season soon, right now they are trying to get back on the winning track. And yet, it is In the group's biggest crisis in the last decade."
Although Washington still has pretensions to save the current season, in two months the trade window in the league will expire, and if the Wizards continue to lose they will have no choice but to make significant changes.
Hughes points to Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma, whose contracts expire at the end of the season, as the two players who may be involved in such trades if and when.
Porzingis and Kuzma.
If anyone leaves, it's likely to be one of them, Photo: Getty
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