Wizards finish another season well short of 50 wins, a mark they haven’t hit since 1979

Once again, the Washington Wizards have nowhere to go but up. We think.

After all, it’s hard to head much further south in the standings — as their 18-64 record was just one better than the Utah Jazz, who out-tanked them to the tune of 17-65.

At least the Jazz went to the Finals (twice) in the late 1990s. The Wizards? Yeah, not so much. They haven’t reached the Finals since 1979, when the stars went by names such as Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes, Phil Chenier and Bobby Dandridge. That’s back when they were still called the Bullets.

They won their lone title the year before that, and fittingly, they didn’t even reach 50 wins that year (1978, 44-38).

As an aside, if you want to pick an era in which the Wizards/Bullets could be considered a near-dynasty, it would be the 1970s. They made four Finals appearances — getting swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971, then swept again by the underdog Golden State Warriors four years later.

Both of their Finals appearances later in the decade came against the Seattle SuperSonics, who don’t even exist anymore.

As for this season, Washington is tied with Utah and the Charlotte Hornets for the best odds to win the NBA Draft lottery in May. The prize, of course, is Duke star Cooper Flagg. Should he land in Washington, that would at least give Wizards fans something to talk about again. 

Today, the Wizards do indeed have some intriguing young players, including last year’s No. 2 overall pick, Alex Sarr. The list also includes fellow rookie Bub Carrington and Bilal Coulibaly, and even Jordan Poole and Corey Kispert are only 25 and 26, respectively.

But the jury is still very much out on whether these players will eventually help you win 50 of 82 games. In Washington, that remains a pipe dream.