Heart of the (Credit) Cards
The Washington Wizards have it all: an established Big Three– including the return of franchise player Bradley Beal (SG), promising rising stars, no shortage of offensive depth… and a schedule that feels like it could sabotage all of this season’s potential.
Bradley Beal| Nick Wass/Associated Press, retrieved from the Boston Globe
After finishing the 2021-22 season with a 35-47 record and ranking 12th in the Eastern Conference, you could make a reasonable argument that the Wizards are a long way away from being true contenders in the East.
That argument could still hold up in the days leading to preseason and the 2022-23 regular season because no one has had a chance to see the Wizards together after their eventful offseason (aside from Summer League and some FIBA and Pro-Am activities from individual players).
It’s only natural that Wizards fans have high expectations for the team as the season creeps up, with Beal’s return and numerous new additions from trades and the NBA Draft alike. Unfortunately, the 2022-23 Wizards will have to rise to the expectations of not only demanding fans this year but also a demanding schedule.
It starts at the end of September in Japan against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Including those preseason games, the Wizards play the Warriors four times. Their matchup on February 13, wherein the Warriors host the Wizards at the Chase Center, will be one of five nationally televised games that the Wizards get this season.
In comparison, Golden State has almost half of its regular season games on national television.
Draymond Green (23) and Corey Kispert (24) on March 27, 2022 | retrieved from NBA.com
I’m not saying that I disagree with Golden State having so many televised games. Network ratings are bound to be high when the most recent NBA Finals MVP takes the court with his team. In a similar vein, the New York Knicks are playing on Christmas Day, and NYC will likely see lots of revenue no matter how the Knicks play. Christmastime in New York is undoubtedly magical, even if the Knicks don’t feel like consistent postseason contenders.
What I will say about the Wizards’ regular season schedule is that it feels covertly stacked against them. They also play the best in the Eastern Conference, both the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, a fair few times. They face Boston three times and Milwaukee four. That adds up to 11 of 82 games played against the most dominant teams in the NBA.
And even though only one of those is televised, that’s almost ⅛ of the Wizards’ season with the burden of immense pressure to compete. For Golden State, Boston, or Milwaukee fans, maybe it’s a game with an obvious winner and decently affordable ticket prices.
While I believe in the Wizards and their ability to be potential play-in contenders, this schedule is going to be difficult. However, you could argue that these matchups could incentivize the Wizards to play better both offensively and defensively, and the team could rise to the challenge. Fans will show up to these games, especially against starring teams, but I would hate to see increased ticket sales come at the expense of the Wizards’ success.
