From having a great start at the beginning of the season with a record of 10-3 to now being six games below .500. The Washington Wizards have seemed to cool off after having one of their best season starts in franchise history and being in the number one seed in the eastern conference for a couple of weeks.

There has been a lack of effort and lack of defense recently even with players coming back from injury like the Japanese star Rui Hachimura and center Thomas Bryant who is coming off an ACL injury. With these players returning from injury the Wizards are having a tough time managing their rotations and that has also affected their style of play. 

At the beginning of the season the Wizards were beating teams like the Miami heat, Boston Celtics and the Milwalkuee Bucks without much problems, now they have found their former achilles heel that has been a problem before, and that achilles heel is “defense.”

The Wizards are having a tough time defending teams off the three point line due to lack of communication, not contesting shooters, lack of effort and most importantly accountability. Point guard Spencer Dinwiddie who is having a terrible season with the Wizards has been very inconsistent, playing alongside superstar shooting guard Bradley Beal. Both guards are having a tough time playing with each other on the court which has led to struggles and lack of scoring for the team and have been one of the reasons for games resulting in losses. 

The Wizards have a lot of depth but unfortunately head coach Wes Unseld Jr. has decided to not use the bag of depth and give playing time to players that can change the game and help the team find a rhythm.

Recently coach Wes Unseld Jr decided to stop running a three center rotation which consists of Montrezl Harrell, Thomas Bryant and most importantly one of the best shot blockers Daniel Gafford. Daniel Gafford who has been starting at center for the Wizards has been pulled from the rotation and has been benched, this has hurt the team due to not having someone to contest shots at the rim or block shots.

Thomas Bryant who is averaging seven points and three rebounds has been having a tough time getting back to his old self despite coming back from injury. Rotations are becoming a big problem for the Wizards because they have not allowed players like Aaron Holiday, Davis Bertans to help the team with their pace and shooting which the team lacks currently. Wes Unseld Jr. wants to play just 9-10 players a game and those players are usually Bradley Beal, Spencer Dinwiddie, Rui Hachimura, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Thomas Bryant, Deni Avdija, Corey Kispert and Raul Neto. 

With the trade deadline coming up, the Wizards are targeting to get Power Forward Domantis Sabonis who is currently playing for the Indiana Pacers. Since the team is struggling to win games and trying to move up for the playoff seeding, players like Deni Avdija, Davis Bertans, Montrezl Harrell, Thomas Byrant can be on the move before the Feb. 10 trade deadline.

The Wizards are a mess with their locker room, Spencer Dinwiddie said in a report that he was talking about leadership, accountability and how the team should be assessed and his words were not welcomed by the team. There are rumors of Spencer Dinwiddie being traded which can benefit the Wizards. The Wizards who are coming off a Win against the Philadelphia 76ers ended their six game losing streak which is their longest losing streak of the season. On Feb. 10, the Wizards traded away Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie to the Dallas Mavericks for Forward Kristaps Porzingus. 

Scoring has been a problem for the Wizards which is somewhat surprising after having a top 10 offense in the beginning of the year. Their struggles first started when they played the Charlotte Hornets and they were forced to play against a two to three zone and a 1-2-2 zone and that caused the Wizards to rely on their shooting with rookie guard Corey Kispert.

Their defense is not a surprise problem, they have had a tough time getting consecutive stops due to miscommunications or just horrible IQ on the defensive end. Transition defense is by far the worst part of the defense, they have allowed more than 15 points in transition in more than five games in the month of January. 

The Wizards have to find the rhythm they had at the beginning of the season and finish the season strong even with just less than 32 games left in the season. With tough losses to the Milwalkuee Bucks, Chicago Bulls and the worst loss of the season to the Los Angeles Clippers by blowing a 35 point lead, it is going to take a lot more than effort and accountability to win games. 

Bradley Beal is set to become a free agent if he opts out of his contract, the Wizards have to make the playoffs and make a strong push in the playoffs if they make it in order to convince Bradley Beal to stay with the team for four or five years more.  With Bradley Beal out for the season due to a left wrist injury, the Wizards will have to rely on their young stars to help compete for a playoff spot with an easy schedule left after the all star break.