As if their 5-11 start wasn't bad enough, the Washington Wizards apparently can't stop fighting in practice.
According to multiple reports, the Wizards have had several verbal altercations over the past week. To top things off, Bradley Beal -- who is involved in trade rumors along with star point guard John Wall -- said that he's been dealing with this drama for the past seven years since he was drafted in 2012.
Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: The Washington Wizards had a volatile practice within recent days, with verbal altercations among players and an exasperated Bradley Beal saying toward team officials: "I've been dealing with this for seven years."
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 19, 2018
Making matters even more complicated, Wall was recently fined for unloading a verbal barrage on head coach Scott Brooks during practice, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
After teammate Jeff Green and Brooks pushed Wall and Wizards teammates to raise the level of intensity in a practice last week, Wall fired back with "f--- you," toward Brooks, league sources said.
Wall did apologize to Brooks shortly afterward, and to his teammates the following day, league sources said.
The drama doesn't end there, either. According to Candace Bruckner of The Washington Post, Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. recently fired his own expletives in Brooks' direction during a recent game.
Another tidbit: Emotions and frustrations were running high during a recent game and Kelly Oubre Jr. hurled expletives at Brooks, according to someone who witnessed the tirade.
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) November 20, 2018
Story coming soon.
The Wizards clearly have not gotten off to the kind of start that they'd hoped. While the Wizards weren't expected to be the best team in the Eastern Conference, they were predicted to be at least in the playoff race. Considering LeBron James left the conference and the fact that the Wizards have advanced to the Eastern Conference semis in four of the past five years, they were a trendy pick in the East.
Heck, even Wall himself predicted Washington would be up there with the likes of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks:
"I think this is the deepest team we've had and I feel very comfortable with this team," Wall said, via Yahoo Sports. "Everybody is going to put Boston No. 1, because that's what you're supposed to. They had a hell of a season with those guys coming back. You've got Philly, they got their pieces. I feel like those top four, those top five -- you can't forget Milwaukee, what they have with Giannis [Antetokounmpo] -- I feel like it's all cluttered. I put us right there."
Wall and Beal aren't the only ones on the trade block as the Wizards are reportedly drawing interest in Otto Porter Jr. We'll see how Wall, Beal and Porter respond to the rumors on Tuesday night when the Wizards host the Los Angeles Clippers at Capital One Arena (7 p.m. ET, watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension).
As the Wizards continue to show off one of the worst defensive units in all of the NBA, it's become crystal clear that this team is not only flawed -- they're not even a playoff team in a weakened Eastern Conference.
Washington has Wall under contract through the 2022-23 season at an average rate of $42 million per year and Beal is signed through the 2020-21 season at an average clip of $25 million per season. Before things get really bad and their players' trade values dwindle as the losses pile up, the Wizards would be wise to consider moving their heavily-paid star players as soon as possible.
