In his ongoing series of team previews, John Hollinger of The Athletic writes that the Wizards might not be a better overall team this season than they were in 2020/21, but he thinks they’re in a decent position to build around star Bradley Beal going forward.
By moving John Wall for Russell Westbrook, and then trading Westbrook to the Lakers, the Wizards acquired multiple players on smaller deals with less guaranteed money, thus gaining financial flexibility for 2022/23.
Hollinger identifies one area the team should definitely be improved: three-point shooting. The Wizards were dead last in three-point attempts per 100 possessions last season, even with renowned shooters Beal and Davis Bertans. New additions Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (.410 3PT%), Kyle Kuzma (.361), and Aaron Holiday (.368) all shot better than the Wizards’ team mark (.351) last season, and rookie Corey Kispert was considered one of the best pure shooters in the draft.
However, Hollinger thinks the team might regress defensively, as Bertans and Montrezl Harrell are both poor defenders who figure to see a good chunk of minutes together.
Hollinger projects the team to finish 38-44, 10th in the East, but thinks they’ll have their work cut out for them to actually hit that mark.
Here’s more from out of the Southeast:
- Second-year forward Deni Avdija made his long-awaited return from a fractured ankle in Saturday’s preseason game, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. The Wizards are high on Avdija and he’s expected to have more play-making opportunities this season, Hughes adds.
- Hawks rookie Sharife Cooper is having an impressive preseason, according to Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Cooper, the 48th pick in the draft, is on a two-way contract, and coach Nate McMillan likes what he’s seen so far, per Spencer. “I love the energy that he’s bringing,” McMillan said of Cooper. “He’s scrappy. He’s playing scrappy basketball out there. He’s trying to make a statement. He’s stepping up, and he’s not pacing himself.”
- In two separate tweets, the Hornets announced Terry Rozier sprained his ankle and will be re-evaluated later in the week, while Gordon Hayward and Mason Plumlee are both out for tomorrow’s game at Miami due to health and safety protocols.
No way WAS wins 38 games this year, sadly their team has gone backwards this year, happens when you trade your best player, so the play-in & home would be a huge success for them, a great season if they can do it!
Forgot about Beal. Irving, Wiggins, Burke, Beal, Beal’s wife ( “You can go and play around with vaccines”).
No loss, was never a fan… he is more freaky than his passive style portends… Not a leader or winner, though nobody has to be either really; but he is presumably getting max. Beal winds up with good stats at the end of a game but does not seem to have affected it much. (I don’t watch the Wizrds much & don’t watch him if I do.)
He seems to get along with everything & everyone so a lot of fans & teams want to trade for him, believing his talents would be a straight add with no need to compromise what has been built before. (An opposite would be James Harden, who it is assumed, would need to change everything about a team to show his stuff. Yet one can call last year a team and personal success.) Beal has yet to be tested on this though; his transparency is just a theory.
As a Dinwiddie fan, a more aggressive player (before injury) who has also been easy to get along with… well I will be watching more often anyway. No conclusion I guess. Predicted them for EC eighth I think, a slight improvement, good enough to get to the party!
I can’t believe someone actually thinks the Wizards traded away their best player.
Just because a guy averages a triple-double (stat stuffer) in 4 of the last 5 seasons doesn’t automatically make him the best player on his team. Russ hasn’t been the best player on his team since he left OKC. Now he’s just the #3 guy in LA.