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Washington Wizards May Shut Down Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma For Remainder Of Season

Currently outside of the Play-In Tournament picture in the Eastern Conference the Washington Wizards may shut down All-Star Bradley Beal and breakout star Kyle Kuzma for the remainder of the season.

The Washington Wizards have just seven games remaining on their schedule ahead of Wednesday clash against the Boston Celtics and they currently find themselves 3.5 games back of the Chicago Bulls for the 10-seed in the Eastern Conference. 

At full-strength, Washington still believes that they can be competitive in their conference, as Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis have shown a lot of potential playing with one another. But health has been a factor for the Wizards and it has played into their current losing skid, as Washington has dropped 10 of their last 13 games. 

One more loss could very well be the end to the Wizards' hopes of getting into the Play-In region of the Eastern Conference standings, which is why there is a lot of talk that they could be prepared to shut down Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma for the remainder of the season. 

Kuzma has missed the team's last four games due to an ankle injury and Beal has missed the last three games for Washington due to a knee injury. 

As things stand right now, it does not appear as if Kuzma will be available for Wednesday's game against Boston and no updates have been given on Beal's injury. 

Recently, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. stated that he hopes to get both of his guys back on the floor this year, but that does not seem practical at this point, especially if the Wizards are eliminated from postseason contention in the coming games. 

Following their game against the Celtics on Wednesday, the Wizards will host the Orlando Magic on Friday before heading on the road to face the New York Knicks over the weekend. 

As things stand right now, the Wizards are tied with the Indiana Pacers for the seventh-worst record in the NBA. Should they finish at this spot in the standings, Washington will have about a 29 percent chance of landing a Top-4 pick in the NBA Draft lottery. 


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