Speaking in the Wizards locker room doesn’t work for Spencer Dinwiddie… | NBA

Defeat of 29 points against Boston, a historic setback against the Clippers, a new rouste of 20 points on the floor of the Grizzlies… The Wizards are struggling at the moment. While still occupying the podium of their conference at the beginning of December 2021, the men of the capital are thus in full tumble.

With their current series of five defeats in a row, they have just left the Top 8 in the East to occupy only 11th place in the conference, just ahead of the Knicks. On the floor, Wes Unseld Jr. is trying to make adjustments like his recent decision to do without Daniel Gafford.

Behind the scenes too, some are trying to get things moving. That’s what Spencer Dinwiddie, one of the team’s most experienced players, tried to do when speaking in the dressing room.

“It’s an interesting situation”, started by answering the 28-year-old told a journalist that he was asking him about his “leadership”. “I spoke a little earlier. It was not necessarily well received. Like I said, I try to do whatever is asked of me. In the end, everyone has a role to play. It’s about being responsible in your role and doing it to the best of your abilities.“

Tension linked to the “trade deadline”?

The titular leader of the Wizards does not say more. But such a reaction from his locker room, if it is real, necessarily raises questions. It can also testify to a team under tension on the sporting level and which could therefore experience significant changes between now and the transfer deadline. A few days agoESPN reported that “ almost everyone was available for a possible exchange.

The situation of Bradley Beal will obviously be followed closely. It is recalled that the next and last year of contract ($ 36 million) of this one, which was not extended this summer, is optional.

The Wizards superstar is aware that the approach of this transfer deadline can weigh on his teammates. ” It’s very difficult for a player to have one foot in, one foot out, if you know you might be traded, if your minutes are short, if you don’t know when the opportunity is going to come and if you feel pressure on the pitch to show what you can do with the playing time allowed“, did he list recently.

The rear saw a ” difficult balance to be found between the contractual interests of each and the collective issues. ” I’m not necessarily in that position but a lot of my teammates fight for minutes. They’re fighting for a spot, to survive out of this league trying not to get traded and get another contract. […] Everyone has a different agenda.“

The short-term agenda of the Wizards is not the most obvious to bounce back: “back-to-back” in Milwaukee then Philadelphia, reception of the Suns, the Heat and the Nets…