On Thursday evening, the Wizards were eliminated from NBA playoff contention. This happened after the Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 105-99. This game was notable for a Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade tribute video and both players scored in double-digits. But that’s probably not what you came to this article for.

The Wizards are now back in the NBA Draft Lottery for the first time since 2016 when they were ninth in the Eastern Conference and were 41-41. This season, Washington is just 31-45 and will likely finish no higher than 11th in the conference.

At this point in the NBA season, it’s in Washington’s interest to give their younger players more time on the court to see what they can do in regular season game action. It is also important that Washington have as high of a draft position as possible for this year’s draft.

Washington will spend half of the salary cap on John Wall and Ian Mahinmi who won’t play next season or will at best not play at a high level. They can’t get players on maximum-level contracts so the draft is their best bet to get a significant contributor. Here’s hoping that they can land that contributor for this fall. The 2019 NBA Draft will be held on Thursday, June 20.