The Wizards want to make the playoffs. They want to shed money. The clock is ticking. According to sources close to the Gregorian calendar, we are less than two weeks away from the NBA’s Feb. 7 trade deadline.



The Wizards believe they have more than a chance at postseason basketball. At 20-27, two-and-a-half games back of eighth in the Eastern Conference, they’re close. The current warming streak, an 11-game stretch that includes seven wins, has kept vibes positive.



The record could dive before the deadline. There are seven games on the schedule until then. But Washington doesn’t expect that to happen. The Wizards are gunning for, at the very least, eighth in the conference.



Their approach is subject to change over the next 13 days, but this team has a plan as the deadline nears: It wants to get a little better. And if it can, it wants to get a little cheaper.



Here’s what else there is to know:



Does making the...