5 Teams who might miss the NBA Playoffs 2019
At the midway point of this NBA season in terms of games played the playoff picture due to start in April is not complete. There are a number of teams in the middle of the pack that can surge up the standings or plummets out into lottery pick territory.
For the moment, teams like New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, and the Atlanta Hawks have a lock on the top draft picks in the 2019 NBA Draft. There has been a fair amount of parity in the Association this year.
Out West, only 6.5 games separate the Conference-leading Nuggets from 9th place Utaz Jazz. In the Eastern Conference, only six games separate the Conference-leading Raptors from the 5th place Boston Celtics. Here is a look at five teams that will miss the playoffs this season.
#1 The Washington Wizards
The Wizards were a playoff team last season giving the Raptors fits in a 6 game series that the Raptors eventually won in the first round. The Wizard the past few seasons have been able to boast about having one of the best guard tandems in the league with John Wall and Bradley Beal. However, that tandem has not really led Washington anywhere.
Earlier this season Washington management made it clear that the entire roster was available for trade. The Wizards have already traded young player Kelly Oubre Jr. to Phoenix for Trevor Ariza. The Wizards are currently 18-26 on the season and 4-6 in their last 10 games including a loss Sunday, January 13th, 2019 to the Raptors.
Also hampering the Washington franchise is after moving on from Marcin Gortat at center his replacement Dwight Howard has suffered back problems and required back surgery for the second time in his career.
Howard isn't expected to return to the team until sometime in February or March, Howard has only played in 9 games this season for Washington. Another issue is the injury to John Wall. He is out for the season with a sore left heel which will take between 6-8 months to heal.