For the first time since January, the Los Angeles Lakers earned their second consecutive win with a commanding 124-106 victory over the Washington Wizards at Staples Center on Tuesday. Here was the good, the bad and the Ball from the game.
The Good: JaVale McGee
JaVale McGee has been really, really good as of late and Tuesday night was no exception. In 32 minutes for the Lakers, McGee scored 20 points on 9-11 shooting from the field to go along with 15 rebounds and four blocks.
Over the last three games, McGee is averaging 23.3 points per game on 82 percent shooting from the field, 16 rebounds and five blocks per game. Sure, that’s a really small sample size, but it’s the type of effort and efficiency fans saw from him before he went down with pneumonia in December.
If the Lakers get an All-Star player in free agency and are forced fill out their roster with veteran players on bargain deals, the team should strongly consider re-signing McGee. However, with the way he’s playing, they might not be able to afford him.
The Bad: The Wizards
Mathematically speaking, the Wizards have yet to be eliminated from playoff contention in the Eastern Conference. From a pure basketball standpoint, though, they have no business playing in the postseason.
With the exception of Bradley Beal, who has been an on absolute tear throughout the league recently, the Wizards are bad — like really, really bad. Fortunately for them, they’re not married to their roster.
All but five players on Washington’s roster will hit unrestricted or restricted free agency next summer. If they decline the team option on Jabari Parker’s contract, they will have roughly $25 million to try and convince a free agent to come to Washington.
Perhaps their future isn’t all bad, but their current roster is almost unwatchable.
