Wizards’ playoff dreams are dead. Here’s what went wrong.

The Washington Wizards’ postseason hopes are officially over. 

The Wizards were eliminated from playoff contention Sunday as they lost to the New York Knicks and saw the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks win their respective games — ensuring that Washington wouldn’t make the play-in tournament.

Washington’s elimination marks the fourth time in five years that the team has failed to make the postseason — and in all five of those years, the team has failed to have a winning record. In 2020-21, the Wizards made the playoffs as an eighth seed with a 34-38 record.

Washington’s failure to make even the NBA’s play-in tournament means that owner Ted Leonsis will likely have to evaluate whether he wants to retain both general manager Tommy Sheppard and coach Wes Unseld Jr.  Sheppard is in his fourth full season at the helm, while Unseld is about to complete his second campaign.

But no matter how much responsibility lies with the coach and the front office — and it’s considerable — there are other reasons Washington’s playoff dreams came up short this year:

Not enough talent: Start with the obvious. Even when Washington’s trio of Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis played together, they went 16-19. Though that trio outscored opponents when all three were on the floor, the Wizards don’t have the talent to compete when one or more of the three take a breather — let alone when one takes an extended absence. 

All year, the Wizards faced questions about the ceiling of a Beal-Kuzma-Porzingis core. Sheppard said in a Feb. 10 radio interview that the trio deserved more time together to find out “how good they really, truly are.” After another middling year, they might have their answer.

Injuries: That said, it would be naive to ignore the role injuries played in Washington’s campaign. If Beal (knee soreness) doesn’t play again this season, he’ll have finished with 50 games — the second-lowest mark in his career. Kuzma (ankle) has also missed the last seven games and 14 total. Even the 29-game absence of Delon Wright early in the season contributed to Washington’s slow start as its defense dropped off without the crafty veteran guard. Every team, of course, deals with injuries. But maybe Washington is still fighting for a playoff spot over the final few games of the year if they had gotten more out of Beal and others.

Young players not taking big leaps: Corey Kispert has set career highs with Beal and Kuzma out. Deni Avdija looks more decisive and has become a better playmaker. Johnny Davis even resembles an NBA-caliber player over the last month. The Wizards’ younger players have shown flashes this season. But Washington is arguably in this position because none of its prospects took such a dramatic leap to raise the Wizards’ potential. 

Sheppard’s spotty draft record has hurt Washington, even with the challenges of finding true franchise-changing prospects in the 9-to-15 range that the Wizards always seem to annually pick. This year, the team punted on Rui Hachimura by trading the Japanese forward to the Los Angeles Lakers. That trade helped free up playing time for Avdija, but the Wizards have gone 14-18 since. That winning percentage of .437 is almost no different than Washington’s winning percentage before the Hachimura trade was made (.435, 20-26 record). 

Defense still questionable: Two years ago, the Wizards hired Unseld and touted his defensive prowess as a coach. But not only have the Wizards been worse defensively than they were in Scott Brooks’ final year — but they’ve arguably regressed from a year ago. Washington has allowed 114.8 points per 100 possessions in 2022-23, down from last year’s 113.6. 

Scoring is up, however, across the NBA. In terms of defensive rating, the Wizards ranked 25th in that category last season and rank 20th this year. Regardless, Washington hasn’t taken a step forward on the defensive end as hoped. 

Blown leads: Friday’s loss to the Orlando Magic marked the eighth time this season that the Wizards led by at least 15 points and still lost. If Washington had even won half of those outings, it would still be in the mix for a play-in spot. It would be tied for the seventh seed — which belongs to the 41-37 Miami Heat — if the team had been able to protect the lead in each of the eight. Alas, the Wizards consistently struggled to pinpoint why they struggled to hold on and it contributed to them missing the postseason.