Now for the last Eastern Conference team that I’ll be covering, the Washington Wizards. To think this is the 9th team I’m on and I’ve only done two Western teams; Eastern Conference more like Leastern Conference *ba dum tss*
The Wizards were in a weird situation coming into this season. It was the first year of John Wall’s supermax and he missed the entire season after slipping and falling in his house, constant Bradley Beal trade rumors and not to mention this would be the first full season without former key players like Kelly Obre Jr, Otto Porter, and Tomas Satoransky. But almost entirely through the will and skill of Bradley Beal alone, the Wizards almost had a chance to make the playoffs (mathematically, not realistically.)
With a combination of young guys and vets, Scott Brooks decided to switch up his scheme to better suit the team he had. His big change was to not play defense altogether. That’s right, the Wizards just decided to focus all their efforts on offense, which makes sense because most of their players aren't good defenders. Isn't the best defense a good offense, or something? This change, win or lose made the Wizards very fun to watch.
Wizard Fans: “Should you get back on defense?”
Wizard players:
Bradley Beal led the way with a career year for him 30.5 points, 6.1 assists with 45.5% FG% on 23 shots a game, that's insane! He found himself an unlikely costar in “the Latvian Lazar” Davis Bertans who also had a career year. Bertans put up 15.4 points with more than 76% of his shots coming strictly beyond the arc.
Not to say that this was just a two-man show, as Washington is used to, they were able to get decent contributions from most of their players. Ish Smith, Troy Brown, Thomas Byrant, Moritz Wagner, and Rui Hachimura were able to back Beal and Bertans up effectively. It wasn't good enough for a playoff berth but still, I think this season was a good stepping stone in developing their young talent.
The Wizards ended their season in the Orlando bubble with a record of 25-47 which can be viewed as a big success to some fans. Now let’s take a look at all the moves the Wizards made to get them to, this point
June 20th - 2019 NBA Draft and Rookies.
The Wizards held the 9th and 42nd pick, they acquired the latter in a draft-night trade with the 76ers. They used them to select Rui Hachimura (PF) and Admiral Schofield (PF).
I liked Rui this season and he had a decent impact on this team. He missed 23 games due to an injury but had a good rookie campaign. He needs to take care of the ball more and work on his three-point shot to become a better player. They also picked up two undrafted rookies; Anzejs Pasecniks (C) and Justin Robinson (PG).
Preseason
Trades:
July 6th - The Wizards trade Dwight Howard to the Grizzlies for C.J. Miles
July 6th - Three team trade Part 1
A big steal for the Wizards.
July 6th - Three team trade Part 2
July 7th - The Wizards send Tomas Satoransky to the Chicago Bulls in a sign and trade. The Wizards receive a 2020 & 2022 2nd round pick. 2020 - the more favorable pick between either Bulls or Grizzlies. 2022 - the right to swap Laker’s pick for the more favorable pick between one between Bulls or Pistons.
Satoransky was signed to a 3-year $30 million contract as a part of the deal.
Signings:
July 7th - The Wizards sign Thomas Byrant to a 3-year $25 million contract. He took 2 threes a game at 41%, he has shown the ability to stretch the floor which is valuable in today’s game.
July 8th - The Wizards sign Ish Smith to a 2-year $12 million contract.
July 9th - The Wizards sign Isaiah Thomas to a 1-year $2.32 million contract.
October 17th - The Wizards re-sign Bradley Beal to a 2-year $72 million contract extension with a player option on the 2nd year. This was a brilliant move by Beal, he told the front office, “you got two years to get your act together or I’m going to dip.” Whether he declines his option or not he’ll still be in line for another massive contract.
October 22nd - The NBA Season begins.
Season Highlight:
I chose Beal’s last-minute layup to win over the Mavericks ----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb-zCcjVklY. This is one of the smartest play calls I’ve ever seen, enjoy!
Midseason
Trades:
February 6th - The Wizards trade Jordan McRae to the Nuggets for Shabazz Napier.
February 6th - A three-team trade:
March 11th - The season is suspended.
Preview
Before the NBA Draft:
The Wizards stayed at their projected 9th pick. I thought that their positions of need would be either PG or SG. I know it sounds crazy, considering that both their franchise players are at their positions but just hear me out:
We don’t know how good John Wall would be when he comes back. By the start of next season, it will be almost two years since he last touched the court (boxing day 2018). Not to mention he hasn’t played more than 70 games since his 2016-17 campaign. He still has 3 years left on his supermax (two if he doesn’t opt-in) but it is safe to assume that he will decline. You have a good opportunity to go get a nice young PG that will be able to learn under Wall and develop for the next few years. There’s no rush to have him take over the helm, as he would have three years to properly develop his game. I think either Tyrese Haliburton or Killian Haynes would fit great on this team.
However, getting a SG might be more feasible. Beal is more likely to opt-out of his deal in 2022-23 than Wall is. He’ll be 30 and barring any setbacks, he’ll be in line to get another big contract from a contender. Since loyalty is more or less dead in today’s league, I don’t think Washington can afford to keep banking on him resigning. So it’s best to put things in place for his potential departure. A guy like Devin Vassell will be a nice selection at 9 because he can provide MUCH NEEDED perimeter defense while also learning from Beal for a couple of seasons.
November 18th - 2020 NBA Draft
They ended up selecting Deni Avidja at 9th and I can’t blame them. He was projected to be a top-five prospect but for whatever reason slid down. He very well may end up being the steal of the draft. They also traded their 2nd round pick to the Thunder but I’ll talk about that in next year’s piece.
Free Agency
NB - Their Rookies haven’t signed their contracts as yet.
Coming into the offseason, the Wizards’ main goal was to re-sign Davis Bertans. He sat out their trip to Orlando so he could avoid injury and cash out this offseason and that he did. He resigned with the Wizards to a 5-year $80 million contract. They also signed Raul Neto and Robin Lopez. Lopez signed a one-year deal for $7.3 million, which seems like an EXTREME overpay because you already have Wagner and Bryant who are both young players with tremendous upside. Maybe they wanted a veteran presence, but you didn’t have to pay him $7 million? With a team already so close to the Tax ($132.627 million this season,) before they even sign their rookies, that money could’ve been better allocated.
I think they could still use a backup shooting guard. Yeah, Jerome Robinson is still young but he’s been very inconsistent, so I think they need a bit more experience at that position. I say give Tyler Johnson a shot. He played for the Nets in the bubble and had a mini resurgence, he can attack the paint at times, he can handle the ball a bit, and can be an above-average three-point shooter. They could offer him a 2-year contract of around $3-5 million per year.
The main problem with the roster is that it’s going to be hard to fill it out without going into the Luxury Tax. Their top three players take up most of their cap space and it’s only going to go up from here, so their roster will most likely be made up of rookies and vets.
Final Thoughts
Next season all comes down to how good John Wall will be coming off of his injuries. If he’s at least 85% of what he was, then the Wizards can easily be the 6th seed in the East. If he struggles then the Wizards will be stuck on the outside looking in for a few years.
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