I think we all know that the Wizards are not about competing in the immediate future. They are trying to compete in the (hopefully not-too) distant future, and this year is mostly about developing the young talent that will hopefully allow them to achieve that goal. So it's no surprise that the fellas at SB Nation don't have them ranked very highly in their latest edition of the NBA Power Rankings.
It has the Wizards as the 29th best team in the league which for some reason sounds a lot better to me than second worst. Here is what they have to say about them.
How many players away from being good -- around .500, a solid playoff bet -- are the Wizards? In John Wall and JaVale McGee, the two most vital positions are solid. (Point guard is soon to be a major plus; center is a minor plus right now, and perhaps better soon.) Can Rashard Lewis and Andray Blatche be minor plusses too? Is that enough?
Hm, they must not have seen McGee's behind the back debacle last night. I'm not confident that he can be as big of a core as they think he can. As for their other questions about Rashard Lewis and Andray Blatche, the answers are no and no. They have some good pieces, but they'll probably have to get a bunch of new players before they can be truly competitive.