By the time the NBA went on hiatus in March, the Wizards had moved up to the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference and were 5.5 games back of Orlando for the No. 8 seed. While having a healthy John Wall may have put Washington into the playoff mix in the East, the star point guard admitted during a recent appearance on Matt Barnes’ and Stephen Jackson’s ‘All The Smoke’ podcast that the team will need some more upgrades to become a legit contender.
Asked about the Wizards’ priorities in free agency and the draft this offseason, Wall pointed to the small forward position and the bench as two areas he believes the club should be looking at.
“With me and Brad(ley Beal), who is a great cornerstone, and you have Rui (Hachimura) who is a rookie that’s in there, but I feel like we definitely need a three that’s a dog, that can knock down shots and compete and create for us,” Wall said, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “And then, we’ve also got to build a bench, just being realistic.”
In recent years, Kelly Oubre and Otto Porter have handled small forward duties in Washington, but Oubre was dealt to Phoenix in December of 2018, and Porter was sent to Chicago less than two months later. Since then, the Wizards haven’t identified a permanent solution at the position. In 2019/20, second-year forwards Isaac Bonga and Troy Brown started the majority of the team’s games at the three.
While Bonga and especially Brown have the potential to become important contributors, they’re both just 20 years old and may not be ready to play major roles on a contending team. Speaking to Barnes and Jackson on their podcast, Wall made a similar point about some of the Wizards’ youngsters, though he didn’t specifically single out any teammates.
“I love the team we have now. We have some great pieces,” Wall said. “There are a lot of young guys getting an opportunity to play that (they) would probably not have gotten on other teams. But I feel like if you want to be one of those (contending) teams, you’ve got to have veteran guys around that are willing to understand their role.”
The Wizards aren’t expected to have cap room available this offseason to pursue the top veterans on the free agent market, but the team should have some mid-level exception money available. As Hughes notes, it sounds like Wall wouldn’t be opposed to the club using its spending power on win-now pieces.
“I feel like for a couple of years in the past, we just kept trying to rebuild through the draft like you do in a lot of other sports,” Wall said. “But in the (NBA), your window is kind of short. You don’t have time for that.”
They should also prioritize a shooting guard, a point guard, a power forward, and a center…
Yup, exactly… especially a lead guard who can win a game 7.
Start with a PG who can play 7 games…
All solid points
Wall should focus on retiring and giving back the $$$ he has cost the franchise, or maybe staying healthy. He acts like Crumelo Anthony. They are alike both have zero rings.
Tazza must be John Wall. Hey John
Yeah was quite surprised to see he said they need a SF after I said they should grab one.
Maybe John Wall has a burner and reads the comments hahahaha
Y’all be doin’ the talk of shame next season when Optimus Dime is back at full speed, mark my words!
If he wants a 3 that can knock down shots, create on the wing and defend well, he looks at the wrong draft class.
In this class there’s Avdija, who’s from overseas can create but not sure how good he is.
There’s Issac Okoro, who is great defensively but can’t shoot a thing or create.
There’s Jaden McDaniels who has a high ceiling but needs developing
Then you have a bunch of 3 and D wings that look like role players such as Devin Vassell, Saqid Bey, and so on and so on