Pregame Dribbles: Cavs at Wizards

Random dribbles ahead of the Cavaliers’ road game against the Washington Wizards on Saturday. ..

1. The Cavaliers will need to be careful here — as this is what’s known as a “trap” game.

2. Basically, that means the Cavs are playing the second night of back-to-back after Friday’s win over the Pistons in the home opener. They’re on the road. Meanwhile, the Wizards were sitting in D.C. last night, resting.

3. Also, the Wizards stink. On top of that, the Cavs face the Knicks in a big road game on Monday. So it would be natural for Cleveland to overlook Washington a little.

4. In other words, we will get to see how Kenny Atkinson‘s fairly efficient offense looks while the team is perhaps a bit tired and maybe not as fired up as usual.

5. That may not be the case, too. But this is the NBA and history tells us this is how it can sometimes go.

6. In each of the first two games, the Cavs started a little slowly before building leads of at least 18 points (or 30, in the case of the season-opener in Toronto). The Wizards are 0-1, losing to the reigning champion Celtics by 20 points at home on Thursday.

7. After this, the Cavs not only get the Knicks in New York, but LeBron James and the Lakers on Wednesday, and a playoff rematch vs. the Magic on Friday. Both of the latter two are in Cleveland. Translation: the upcoming stretch sure would make a win against the Wizards ideal.

8. Washington head of basketball operations Michael Winger is from Cleveland and is a former front-office man with the Cavs. I gleefully offered him some unsolicited advice, given that Washington is highly likely to again miss the playoffs.

9. It was only partially well-received by my readers.

10. Basically, I suggested that the Wizards — who haven’t won 50 games in a season since 1979 — go ahead and stink this season (they don’t really have a choice). And then if they fail to land a top-three pick, trade away their assets and try to build a competitive, veteran team.

11. In today’s NBA, that’s a no-no. The thinking is to be either in contention for a trip to the Finals … or in contention for the top pick in the draft. The worst place you can sit is in the middle, spinning your wheels and being average.

12. I agree with all that, to a point. But Washington has been so bad for so long that I think that their fans are owed a regular season of enjoyment. As one retired NBA coach told me, “The next best thing to winning a title is 82 games of fun.” After all, 82 games is the largest chunk of your season.

13. Either way, I’m not going to spend hours writing about this. Bottom line: I understand the Wizards wanting to play the lottery. But I also contend that tanking rarely results in anything great — and spinning your wheels being average sure beats spinning your wheels being awful, year after thankless year.

14. OK, that’s enough for now. In summary, the Cavaliers will have to be focused and sharp for a game that, frankly, isn’t all that riveting. Tipoff is 7 p.m. on FanDuel Sports Ohio (formerly Ballys).

Also, FYI, Wizards have longest conference finals drought of any team in pro sports (NBA/NHL/NFL/MLB). https://t.co/FlJfQGIsjH

— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) October 25, 2024