Despite losing John Wall for the season, Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis stated that his goal is to still make the playoffs rather than tank for a high draft pick.
“We set out goals, and you got to meet the goals. And the first goal is to make it into the playoffs and to do better than we did last year, and to me that will make for a successful year. … What I’m encouraged by is that guys aren’t feeling sorry for themselves. In fact, they looked at it now as an opportunity. They’re getting more minutes, and everyone wants to make the best of their time, but to meet the goal of making the playoffs, not for individual stats and accolades. This is a team, collective goal,” said Leonsis.
The Wizards are 6-4 without Wall and are two games out of the final playoff spot.
Bradley Beal told Leonsis that the Wizards would make the playoffs.
“Bradley Beal told me, ‘We got enough. We’re going to make the playoffs. We’re not going to let you down.’ So who am I to change the goals? We said, ‘No excuses.’ It would be easy to say we have so many players out injured, but we’re not going to do that. We’re not letting anybody off the hook. We got to make the playoffs.”
