The Washington Wizards are without John Wall but still have a star player. Here’s how they match up against the Detroit Pistons in 2019-20.
The Washington Wizards should offer a cautionary tale to the Detroit Pistons. The Wizards bet heavy on All-Star point guard John Wall, rewarding him with a max contract that will pay him $37.8, $40.8, $43.8 and an astounding $46.8 million per year over the next four seasons, respectively.
Wall promptly got hurt and when he went down, Washington’s chances at competing in the East went with him. Even with star two guard Bradley Beal still on the roster, Wall is eating up far too much of the Wizard’s cap space for them to make many changes or significant additions to offset his loss. They are trapped in NBA purgatory and have no real choice but to trade Beal for assets and start over.
The Pistons are in a comparable situation with Blake Griffin. Griffin is set to eat a huge chunk of the Pistons’ cap over the next few seasons and if he goes down, the Pistons will be a team with one star, a lot of parts and no chance to improve. It’s the nightmare scenario we try not to speak about on #PistonsTwitter.
The Pistons won two-of-three against the Wizards last year, taking both home games and losing in Washington. Langston Galloway was big, scoring 22 in the first game which was the only of the three to feature Wall. Andre Drummond was out in the second game and it showed as the Pistons got embarrassed, scoring just 87 points in the loss. Drummond came back strong in the third game, scoring 32 points and grabbing 17 boards in a blowout win for Detroit.
Washington did what they could in the offseason, but their roster situation remains one of the most depressing in the NBA. Detroit hopes to continue where they left off last season and beat up on the Wizards in 2019-20.