Apr 9, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith (8) drives up to the basket during the first quarter against the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Basketball in August tends to be pretty dull, but that won’t stop fans and writers alike to create rankings based on things none of us could possibly foresee.

ESPN recently ranked the NBA teams “that will make the biggest jump in the 2013-14 season”, and the Washington Wizards were placed 2nd overall right after the Cleveland Cavaliers. Prior to this particular ranking, ESPN had predicted that the Wizards would be the 7th team in the Eastern Conference this upcoming season, right above the Cleveland Cavaliers. To my knowledge, the NBA Summer Forecast rankings were created based on votes coming from either writers or fans on Twitter.

Even though we’re still a few months away from the start of the regular season, it’s nice to actually see some positive pixels heading towards the Wizards. Washington didn’t upgrade their roster much, but apparently the voters have enough fate in continuity and how Washington closed out the season.

To my surprise, Washington was ranked higher than the Detroit Pistons who made some significant moves this offseason. It’s definitely cool to see the Wizards ranked high during the offseason, but we’ll have to see how well they’ll play during the regular season.