The NBA 2018–19 Season Preview: Washington Wizards Edition
The NBA season is fast approaching and one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference have something to prove. Mostly for themselves.
Oh my god, it is that time of the year again; the fucking NBA is back.
Training camp is officially underway and the preseason games will start by the end of the month. The entire summer has been filled with basketball cravings from hardcore hoop junkies all over the country, including myself, watching pro-am clips and reading offseason scoops before the latest 2K or Live release. Now that the day is nearly upon us, it is a good time to take a look at the three teams of the Southeast Division I have a natural affinity towards. Today I will look at my favorite and hometown team that has brought me high expectations and constant disappointment: The Washington Wizards.
Washington Wizards (Finished 43–39 and 8th in the Eastern Conference)
Ah good ol’ Washington, D.C. sports. For years, the teams of my home region of the mid-Atlantic are known for embarrassing displays of athletics up until recently. The Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup, the Mystics of the WNBA made it to the finals (though swept by the Seattle Storm) and D.C. United, while bad, brought in the good graces of legend Wayne Rooney to improve the team late in the season. No one cares about the Nationals or Redskins, so this brings us to the unremitting struggle that is the Washington Wizards.
The Wizards, backed by the dynamic backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal, barely saw much time together during the regular season. Wall had to battle knee injuries that led to a mid-season surgery, sidelining him for half of the season. As a result, Bradley Beal had to expand his game to carry the workload and for a time, it looked pretty good..for four games. Despite having to play a new style of basketball that was a little more unselfish than when Wall was in the lineup, it only led to more locker room chaos between the franchise star and notable center Marcin Gortat. Upon Wall’s return, he came in a little slower and the team looked that way too as they were outplayed against the first seed Toronto Raptors in the Playoffs.
A frustrated Wall makes his intentions clear for the team right after their elimination: the team didn’t have enough.
“Just got to add some pieces. A lot, to be honest… I don’t need to point it out,” Wall told NBC Sports in April. “I think the way the game is going, you need athletic bigs, you need scoring off of the bench, you need all those types of things.”
Wall was right in a lot of those aspects. The team was weak in rebounding and shot blocking in the middle, as Wall led the team in blocks (1.1) and was the only player above a block per game. Otto Porter’s injury woes also played a factor in the lack of bench depth. Kelly Oubre was the only natural wing that was available, leaving for undersized guards like Jodie Meeks and Tomas Satoransky gaining minutes at the three. One of the true saving graces of the bench last season, Mike Scott, provided a well-needed scoring boost early in the season but didn’t show the same amount of consistency towards the end.
Changes had to be made and one of the first was moving one of the conflicts of the Wizards’ locker room in Gortat, trading him to the Los Angeles Clippers for Austin Rivers. Gortat, while still a tough defender and rebounder, was regressing with his age and had one of the more tumultuous relationships with the star point guard. Bringing in Rivers was the first step of Washington reshaping their bench with scoring and reliability. Austin Rivers has proven on more than one occasion to be a versatile two-way threat and game manager to back up both Wall and Beal when needed. The real question is if the Wizards were willing to pay for an athletic big that can be the perfect complement to Wall’s slashing ability.
In comes Dwight Howard, fresh off a rehabilitating year of sorts with the Charlotte Hornets but on his fourth team in six years. I went into great detail two months ago when the deal was made and this is now or never for both parties. Howard has an opportunity to be the best center in the Eastern Conference on a team that’s still on the cusp of breaking through. His inclusion already gives the Wizards one of the more complete starting lineups in the league and makes him a valuable option for Wall to kick in the post. The problem only lies on how well this team can function off the court just as much on it.
We have seen all the jokes on how this team has the most potential for fighting amongst each other before the opening tip. Aside from Otto Porter, who is mild-mannered as it gets, and Tomas Satoransky, every player on the Wizards roster have enough baggage and ego to rival Kanye West. It’s only a matter of time Dwight Howard’s shenanigans could annoy John into never giving him the ball or leaving him off the team bus. Scott Brooks has a hell of a mission for this season to manage the number of explosive personalities and having them on the right track in winning.
It’s possible that this team can prove all of their skeptics wrong and exceed expectations in a completely different Eastern Conference.
Or it can all go to hell expeditiously.
