The Washington Wizards were not expected to be competitive this season, but their 3-19 start is not something anyone on the team could have predicted.

"I try to come into seasons with not too much of an expectation, because you just never know how things can go," veteran forward Kyle Kuzma told The Athletic's David Aldridge and Josh Robbins. "I probably thought we could struggle, but never to the extent that we are in the present."

The Wizards rank last in the NBA in defense with an average of 123.8 points allowed per game. Washington went winless in the entire month of November and snapped a 16-game losing streak with a surprising 122-113 win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. However, the team suffered a 140-112 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies the very next day.

Shooting guard Jordan Poole is the only Wizards player who averages 20 points per game at 20.4, and he's shooting a career-high 40.6 percent from three-point range. No other player has made much of an impact this year, and all signs point to Washington missing the playoffs for a fourth straight year.

Perhaps a lottery pick near the top of the 2025 NBA draft could be enough to turn things around for the Wizards, but that would be a small consolation for fans who have to endure another lost season.