Washington Wizards

Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards are acquiring Anthony Davis in an eight-player trade with the Mavericks that includes draft picks for Dallas, a person with knowledge of the deal said Wednesday. The move is a signal the Mavericks are moving on from the widely criticized trade that sent superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package headlined by Davis last year.

We kick things off in Washington, where the Raptors had a humbling road loss against then league-worst record holders, the Wizards (they picked up another win the following game against the Memphis Grizzlies). The play starts with a dribble handoff from Immanuel Quickley to Jamal Shead, and Barnes sets a pick after, rolls to the rim recieves a nice bounce pass from Shead and flushes home a dunk with two Wizards in the paint.

To make matters worse, the early season challenge to his players from head coach Brian Keefe, which was followed by a players only meeting, made it seem as if the young team was heading in the wrong direction as a whole. Fortunately, things in the DMV finally seem to be turning around, at least considering the state of the organization this time last week when they found themselves at the bottom of the NBA standings for yet another season.

In the Raptors' last game on December 26, they went up against the Washington Wizards, who hold one of the worst records league-wide at 6-23. Even though Toronto has been going through quite the rough patch lately, their struggles persisted into this Boxing Day affair, where they completely faltered against Washington, thanks to some great performances from Kyshawn George, wily veteran CJ McCollum, Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, as well as efficient showings from youngsters Tre Johnson and Bub Carrington.

Obviously, the Wizards injuries have began to add up over the last few weeks, with several key players out of the lineup including Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly and reigning top 10 pick Tre Johnson. Washington's far from full strength, but if we're being completely honest, the team's underwhelming play to start the season suggest that even if they were healthy, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

The Washington Wizards injuries have managed to make an already bizarre start to the season take a turn for the worse. Washington's injury woes have forced head coach Brian Keefe to search for answers deep on the team's bench and after declaring that no minutes would be given, but instead earned this offseason, Washington found themselves turning to a second-round pick on Thursday night.

Bilal Coulibaly was selected with the No. 7 overall pick by the Wizards in the 2023 NBA Draft. The oversized guard's skillset and size mixed with his defensive instincts made him one of the most unique prospects that many felt if he could develop his offensive game would allow for him to become one of the most elite two-way players in the league.

When Washington opted to land Middleton, the expectation was that the forward would use the fresh start to his advantage proving he had plenty left in the tank. Obviously, the main motive behind the Wizards decision to acquire the veteran was to move on from Kyle Kuzma, who had increasingly become a distraction for the struggling team with his growing frustration throughout the Wizards struggles.