The Washington Wizards stake their claim as the second best team of the Eastern Conference.
All eyes and ears are on Kevin Durant as he approaches free agency. He is now on one of the most talented teams in the NBA.
He is desperately seeking a championship at this point in his career and if the OKC Thunder still fail to win it all, he might look Eastward-and homebound.
The Washington Wizards is the team that most observers anoint as the foremost (only?) candidate to lure KD away from Oklahoma. The biggest factor would be the hometown hero element, which brought rival LeBron James back to Cleveland. Durant is originally from the Baltimore, Maryland area.
However, there is also the "basketball reason," which should be the most important reason. Do the Wizards qualify? Bullets Forever says "absolutely" since they declare themselves to be the second best team in the East, ceding only to LeBron James' Cavs.
Of course, the main factor is John Wall and Bradley Beal, but they also break down the off-seasons of their rivals.
The Atlanta Hawks lost DeMarre Carroll, and the precious chemistry that brought them to the East's best record. "If the Hawks were more balanced on the wings, this wouldn't be much of an issue, but only one other team in the NBA was as reliant on their starting five than the Hawks last year."
The Chicago Bulls did not lose any of their players, but they lost Tom Thibodeau, the head coach who was presumed to be the catalyst for their success.
The Miami Heat had the best offseason but "there are simply too many variables to predict with great certainty that they're going to leap from a team completely out of the playoffs, even with all of the injuries, to immediately challenging Cleveland for the conference title."
The Toronto Raptors also improved since they got DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph, but they have a gaping hole, and their "frontcourt is pretty one-dimensional right now. This is something that can obviously be corrected in 2016, but it will be their Achilles heel this year."
In contrast, the Wizards addressed what they would say is their main weakness last season: Offense.
Despite the departure of Paul Pierce, they have replacements in Jared Dudley and Alan Anderson. Pierce was acquired to lead the inexperienced Wizards and he has fulfilled his purpose on that end.
The conclusion that the Wizards arrived at is that they have the most balanced roster.
"Washington might not have the elite talent of a Cleveland, an OKC, or a Golden State, but they have no weaknesses on the roster. They have two-way players at every position and can now play in the fast paced environment of today's game."
Incidentally, the ESPN Summer forecast had the Wizards finishing 5th in the East behind the Cavs, Bulls, Hawks and Heat.