Okay, I added that last clause so I could find a reason to opine on a national survey.
SB Nation regularly has Reacts surveys for the national NBA audience. I don’t usually post on those results because most of them aren’t related to the Washington Wizards.
One of the questions was about who is a new face of the NBA out of a list of players. Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards won the poll with 58 percent of the vote.
Also, fans believe Anthony Edwards is the next new face of the NBA. pic.twitter.com/qIxMxzeGZ8
— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) May 4, 2024
Some context is needed with the term “next face.” Edwards is not an MVP level player like Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo or like elder statesman Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James. But Edwards has been a consistent 20+ point a game scorer (or very close to it) over each of his four NBA seasons. He is a two-time All-Star. And now, the Wolves are among the contenders in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately, the Wizards don’t have anyone who is at that level right now. Otherwise, they would be a playoff pack team, if not better. But that’s okay, because the Wizards are in the beginning stages of a rebuild. They are losing many games right now, but eventually, those winning seasons will return.
Speaking about rebuilding, SB Nation’s national survey this week asked which playoff teams should start a rebuild in light of a first round playoff exit. A combined 85 percent said the Phoenix Suns (49 percent) and the Los Angeles Lakers (36 percent) should begin a rebuild now.
Here are the results from @sbnreacts’ national survey this week. First, fans think the Phoenix Suns should change course and start a rebuild. pic.twitter.com/32JsSZuyrd
— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) May 4, 2024
I don’t disagree that the Suns and Lakers should start a rebuild. But I also think that both teams are unlikely to hit that reset button right now.
In the Suns’ case, they still seem to be keen on seeing whether a trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal can try to make a deep playoff run next year. Perhaps they fire Frank Vogel as their head coach. But considering that they traded so many of their default assets for Durant and Beal (which we all know about very well) in the last couple years, you can’t fault them for trying to see if they can make that run.
Either way, the Suns will be in a tough spot through 2030 if they start rebuilding now because of several first round pick swaps with the Wizards from the Beal trade last year. Then again, the Suns could get some more first round picks if they start trading their star players, especially Booker, sooner.
The Lakers are also a team that should start a rebuild. Since their 2020 NBA championship season in the Florida bubble, they haven’t finished higher than 7th in the Western Conference regular season standings. And even though the Lakers made the Western Conference Finals last year, they had to start in the play-in tournament.
But like the Suns, I don’t think the Lakers will start a rebuild right now like they did after the late Kobe Bryant retired. They seem to be focused on keeping James until he retires, and they fired head coach Darvin Ham yesterday.
So it will be interesting to see whether they draft James’ son LeBron “Bronny” Jr., who had a mediocre season at nearby Southern Cal last year so the elder James can see his wish come true. But even if that doesn’t happen, the elder James is more likely to stay with the Lakers as well.
In the end, I think the Suns and Lakers will both continue to be on the Treadmill of Mediocrity because they will be too risk averse of ripping the band aid off like the Wizards did a year ago. Hopefully, the Wizards’ rebuild won’t be too long, but again, we’re only entering Year 2 of this thing.
Let us know your thoughts on the national survey in the comments below.
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