NFL
By: Joe Cardoso
When the Washington Wizards lost to the in the 2021 NBA playoffs, and they haven’t won a playoff series since 2017 versus the Atlanta Hawks. This season made it back-to-back no playoff games and in the past 10 seasons, they have made 5 appearances. We have seen it all from coaching changes to players with promise not coming close to living up to the hype. And now with today’s news of Bradley Beal being traded to the Suns another era is over and with a whole new front office, a new era begins.
What Happened?
We had one of the most exciting guards in the game at the time in John Wall and signed him to a super-max contract 4-years $170 million dollars and at the time it made sense he was finishing up a career year of 23.1 points, 10.7 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. And a career-best 45.1 percent from the field. Paired with Bradley Beal we had a young up-and-coming backcourt for years to come. Then injuries hit Wall with him even missing the 2019-20 season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. And then the jokes, articles, and memes came about how the Wizards made a huge mistake and would never recover from this. But they found a way to dump the contract and give the keys to the franchise to Bradley Beal. A true professional on and off the floor Brad gave Wizards fans all he could and that ended up being not enough to make a dent in the East. The blame is not all on him though as the team made some suspect signings and had injuries to deal with. He was rewarded for his play with a contract to the tune of 5 years $251 million. And one of the parts of the deal was his NO trade clause which gave him the power to say where he goes if the team ever wanted to move him a classic Wizards move and he was the only player in the league with one. Roster moves were made like Russell Westbrook coming to the team, Kyle Kuzma, and a new head coach. All still not enough and it didn’t take long to see that the contract Wizards fans were so excited to see him sign was holding them back.
A New Era
After missing the playoffs again it looks like owner Ted Leonsis/Monumental Sports have had enough of being a bottom feeder and changes were made to the Washington front office. Bye, bye to the ways of Ernie Grunfeld and Tommy Sheppard, and in came Michael Winger as team President and Will Dawkins as GM. It did not take long for this new team to figure out a roster revamp was needed and it started with moving the huge Beal deal. Nothing personal just business, looking at what the Wizards got in return for the Beal and Rui Hachimura trade is laughable and also shows how bad this front office has been. Fans in DC lose a fan favorite BUT, if they draft well and sign the right players in 2-3 years this moment could be looked at as the starting point. One thing I know is the old way of doing things in DC is over. What happens with Kuzma and Porzingis is anyone’s guess.
The Wizards' return for Rui Hachimura: Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks
The Wizards' return for Bradley Beal: Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, multiple second-round picks and multiple second-round pick swaps pic.twitter.com/7lrI7ijNK7
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) June 18, 2023
As a Washington Wizards fan, I will remember Bradley Beal for some amazing moments, bad luck, and a great positive impact on the community and I wish him well in Phoenix. Sports fans are known for a lot of things being patient isn’t one of them, Washington has some serious work to do.
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