Sometimes it’s not just the fans and the media who tell you when it’s time to make a change. Often it’s the basketball gods who jump in and force your stubborn hand. This explains what happened to John Wall and what should happen as a result to the Washington Wizards.

For years, the Wizards resisted any urge to break up a group that couldn’t crack the Eastern Conference elite and showed signs of tapping out. Now, they finally have their chance to push reset. With heel surgery looming, Wall is out for the season. The Wizards are currently a few games better than the starting-from-scratch Atlanta Hawks and therefore headed nowhere special. What more of a hint do they need?

Bothered by bone spurs jabbing his Achilles tendon, Wall opted for surgery instead of risking a potential rupture to the tendon.

"This is something that’s been there for years,” Wall said. “I’ve played through it, and now it’s to the point where you can’t play through it no more unless you want to tear your whole Achilles. That’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m taking the shorter process of taking six to eight months instead of taking 15 to 20 months.

“Last year, I had it but it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t bad but this year, it just got to the point where it was hot a lot of times. You see the Cleveland game, it’d be terrible. I could barely run. And one game it would be good, like the Lakers and those games. I tried as much as I could and to the point where it was getting hotter and hotter. And then if I miss two games and be back a game, then miss two more games, that’s not beneficial to those guys, and it’s not giving my teammates everything I have.”

Searching for silver linings with John Wall's season-ending injury.

Changing the makeup of this franchise will send hope to the fan base, may put the Wizards in contention for a top pick in a top-heavy 2019 draft, clean up the salary cap if their moves are done properly, and set the table for a new beginning once Wall returns next season.

Changes are long overdue anyway and the Wizards now have their opening, their excuse, their chance to do something with minimal blowback. The only real question is whether this should be done by current management or if it’s more of a job for replacements.

Ernie Grunfeld is the longest-tenured general manager who hasn’t led his team to at least the conference finals. He was hired in 2003, the same year as Danny Ainge in Boston, and the gap between them is roughly as massive as Wall’s upcoming contract extension (which kicks in next season). Like all GMs, Grunfeld has had decent hits and costly misses in personnel decisions, except his misses seem more pronounced.