There’s finally hope for the Commanders, plus previewing the NBA and NHL playoffs

Good morning to everyone but especially to…

THE WASHINGTON COMMANDERS

It’s a new day  for one of the NFL’s historic franchises tarnished by its recent past. Commanders owner Dan Snyder has reached a preliminary, nonexclusive deal to sell the team for $6 billion to Josh Harris and his group of buyers.

It’s hard to understate how big of a deal this is. Snyder bought the Commanders in 1999 for $800 million and proceeded to run a once-proud organization into the ground.

• The team has as many playoff wins as name changes (two) under Snyder, who grew up a fan of the team. Only the Browns and Lions have fewer postseason wins over that span.
• Snyder often intervened in the team’s operations, which led to splashy but unproductive player acquisitions and coach hirings. Former coach Jay Gruden said Snyder “would come in off his yacht and make the pick” during the NFL Draft, overruling the team’s personnel department.

The team’s failures on the field, though, pale in comparison to the off-field issues, which range from embarrassing to damning to horrifying. Here are some recent controversies:

Long story short, the Commanders went from flagship franchise to laughingstock under Snyder. It will take a while to get things on track, but this is a necessary step forward.

Honorable mentions

Not so honorable mentions

NBA playoff field is nearly finalized 🏀

Tomorrow, we begin the wonderful, exhilarating ride that is the NBA playoffs. Fourteen of the 16 seeds are locked in, and the 8 seeds in each conference will join them tonight.

Here are the matchups:

• Bulls at Heat
• Thunder at Timberwolves (Minnesota has injury issues)

No one was a bigger winner Thursday than the Warriors, though: Andrew Wiggins is back and will be available for tomorrow’s Game 1 against the Kings.

• Wiggins has not played since Feb. 13 while dealing with a family matter.
• He averaged 17.1 points this season while shooting a career-high 39.6% from 3.
• Wiggins will likely come off the bench and play 20-25 minutes in Game 1, per reports.

I wrote about Wiggins’ potential return last week, but here’s how important he is: The Stephen Curry/Klay Thompson/Wiggins/Draymond Green/Kevon Looney lineup has a +21.9 net rating, by far the best of any NBA lineup that’s played at least 300 minutes this season.

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