Nobody will be more happy to see the preseason end compared to the Washington Wizards; if it had gone on any longer, they would have run out of healthy bodies completely.
With Martell Webster on the shelf following his third back surgery in four seasons, the harms just kept coming.
Bradley Beal fractured his wrist, Glen Rice Jr. wrapped his ankle, Kris Humphries ripped open his arm on the rim (since when are these things sharp?) , requiring surgery to mend the gash. Even John Wall was limited with knee tendinitis.
The Wizards’ oldest player managed to survive the exhibition slate unscathed. Paul Pierce, place to begin at small forward for the Wiz, provided some veteran outlook on the parade into the coach’s table, per Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post:”It’s been tough. It’s been challenging. We have not had a complete squad the majority of the preseason. The important thing is understanding it’s a very long season. The crucial thing is to become healthy.”
If the collective swelling recedes and all the stitches hold, Washington can still make great on the lofty expectations it set last season. Forty-four wins got people believing in D.C., and the Wizards face a world in which anything less than a top-four seed will constitute a disappointment.
Demands like which are as sterile as they are daunting, especially for a franchise with so little success in yesteryear. In 33-1, the Wiz are not totally out of the championship film, but they’re still a notch below the East’s elite.
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