The Washington Wizards had a rollercoaster season in 2020-21. They finished with a record of 34-38 and secured the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Philadelphia 76ers eliminated them in five games during the first round.
Despite their early exit from the postseason, this team had some bright spots. Bradley Beal continued to establish himself as one of the league's premier scorers, averaging an impressive 31.3 points per game while shooting over 48% from the field.
Russell Westbrook also joined forces with Beal last offseason after being traded from the Houston Rockets. He finished his debut campaign with Washington averaging another triple-double (22.2 PPG/11.5 RPG/11 APG), breaking Oscar Robertson's all-time triple-double record along the way.
However, injuries played a significant role throughout their season; Thomas Bryant missed most of it due to injury, and Deni Avdija suffered an ankle fracture that ended his rookie year prematurely.
Overall, though, despite facing adversity on multiple fronts - including COVID protocols at times - head coach Scott Brooks managed to keep them competitive enough down the stretch, which was ultimately good enough for playoff contention but not much more than that.