This season didn’t get off to the best of starts for The Washington Wizards. Point guard John Wall missed the first 33 games of the season as he recovered from a knee injury. The Wizards record reflected Wall’s absence as they came out of the gates with a record of 4-28. Since that time Wall has returned to lead The Wizards in points per game (18.3), assists per game (7.6), and steals per game (1.3). With just three games remaining for The Wizards this season, they are just one win away from 30 victories on the season for the first time since the 2007-2008 campaign which was The Wizards last trip to the playoffs. The Wizards will fall well short of the playoffs this year, but reaching 30 victories this season was an afterthought in January when The Wizards were looking at the possibility of only 15 wins this season.
The Wizards have played giant killer all season as they have knocked off playoff bound teams such as The Miami Heat, New York Knicks, and Brooklyn Nets which has to give The Wizards young squad a ton of confidence heading into the summer.
For Wizards head coach Randy Wittman he knows that the team’s future success revolves around Wall and rookie shooting guard Bradley Beal who hasn’t played since March 20 when he was shut down with a stress injury to his right fibula. The duo has shown flashes of what they can do as they have combined to average 32.2 points per game this season. In his last ten games, Wall has gone for 30 or more points on four occasions which was highlighted by 47 point, 8 assist, 7 rebound performance on March 25 against the playoff bound Memphis Grizzlies in a 107-94 Washington victory and 37 points in a 104-85 victory over another playoff bound team in The Indiana Pacers on April 6. For the month of April, Wall is averaging 25.0 points per game.
Heading into the off-season, Wittman and Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld have some decisions to make about this squad. Forward Trevor Ariza has a player option at $7.7 million for next season. Ariza has averaged 9.5 points per game this season and he can fill a wing on The Wizards fast-break with Beal and Wall. Center Emeka Okafor has an early-termination option in his contract, but he is scheduled to make nearly $14.49 million next season which makes it highly unlikely that he would look to leave; especially with the opportunity to play with Wall for a full season. You never know how the ping-pong balls will bounce at The National Basketball Association’s Draft Lottery, but I can see The Wizards picking anywhere between fifth and tenth in June’s NBA Draft. Even with Ariza, The Wizards should look for another small forward such as Ohio State University’s Deshaun Thomas who led his team in scoring at 19.8 points per game this past season.
Led by Okafor, The Wizards are currently eighth in The NBA for rebounding this season at 43.2 boards per game. The Wizards are one of the top defensive teams in The NBA as they are tied for seventh in points allowed at 95.6 per game, but they are only 27th in points scored per game at 93.2 points per contest.
For The Wizards it all comes down to having their backcourt on the floor for a full season. Wall has never played a full 82-game NBA regular season and Beal appears to have hit the rookie wall. With that said the pieces are still in place for The Wizards to contend in The Eastern Conference for years to come.
Source:Basketball-reference.com
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