A lot can be said about the Washington Wizards. Perennial playoff team that has not made it past the second round, a roster full of talent including stars John Wall and Bradley Beal, and now are looking at a lottery season as one of the worst teams in the NBA. The Wizards currently sit at 11th place in the Eastern Conference with a measly 5-11 record. This morning, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Wizards are signaling a willingness to consider trade overtures on their entire roster, including John Wall and Bradley Beal. Partnered with reports that their practices include heated arguments and verbal exchanges between players looking to blame their poor start on something other than themselves. This came as a bit of a surprise. Most franchises don’t give up on entire rosters 16 games into the season, but Washington’s situation is unique. The Wizards are currently in the luxury tax with majority of their cap space going to John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter, and Ian Mahinmi. On top of that, their coach Scott Brooks is failing to develop any team culture. The Wizards play like basketball is their job and the teammates are their coworkers. Win or Lose, it doesn’t effect them. Just another day at the office. Having a team culture like this is what brings teams to a boiling point, just as it has now. This team is in NBA no man’s land. Not good enough to contend but not bad enough to get a top draft pick. After getting beat by the middling Nets at home, they got absolutely carved up by the Blazers also on their home court. They were humiliated from tip to final buzzer, never having control of the game as the Blazers played what reporters and players described as “perfect basketball”. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum were so dominant that Scott Brooks opted to bench his star backcourt from the middle of the third quarter on. That is not a good look for 2 players making a combined $44 million this year. On top of that their offseason acquisition of Dwight Howard is not paying off, and Otto Porter has regressed substantially from the feisty 3-And-D player he was last season. The Wizards are a boring, depressing team to watch, and the front office has had enough of it.

So where do the Wizards go from here? It looks like they are taking the Philadelphia route and looking to trade all their pieces for picks and young guys, in hopes of riding the draft lottery and enter the sweepstakes for top rated prospect Zion Williamson. This method is called tanking, and has worked out very well for the Sixers. John Wall will be tough to trade, as his attitude and injury history makes him a tough sell for his $140 million contract. But star shooting guard Bradley Beal will draw a lot of attention, specifically from teams that lack shooting at the 2-guard spot such as the Lakers, Celtics, and Sixers. Beal could bring in some valuable assets for the now rebuilding Wizards. Otto Porter could be an intriguing prospect as his skill-set is in short supply these days. His contract will be tough to trade however. Unfortunately for fans, they are at the beginning of a long, painful rebuild that will most likely see them outside of the playoff race for years to come. But who knows, maybe their draft pick will be a culture shifting, franchise player and people in DC will have something to cheer for soon. But to me, not even a real wizard could give them that kind of luck.