It doesn't even matter if the Wizards made every right decision. They might have won 30 games. Or 40. Or 50. Still wouldn't compete with the handful of teams that have all the benefits of being in a great city or have lucked into a Kevin Durant or Tim Duncan.
With the max salary system, the best players can pick the nicest cities to live in since the not-so-nice cities can't pay them any more. It's a broken system. There are 5 Globetrotter teams and 25 Washington Generals teams.