Three scenarios: What history says about the Wizards this season

The worst stretch belongs to The Process Philadelphia 76ers, which went 37-109 from 2013-16. That's a .150 winning percentage. That got them six trips to the second round of the playoffs in the years since. The last player still around from all that tanking is the creaking, disintegrating, brittle Joel Embiid.

While cratering the franchise for multiple seasons had become such a prevalent rebuilding strategy that the league finally imposed draft lottery rules to put an end to the practice, the reality is it takes a long string of roster moves (draft, sign, trade) that work and a liberal dose of good luck to build any team into a title contender.

Can the Washington Wizards end the tank? With Anthony Davis, Trae Young, and DeAndre Ayton onboard, here are 3 historical paths and what each would mean for 2026-27. | NBAE via Getty Images