NBA Couples’ Therapy: Washington Wizards John Wall and Bradley Beal
A successful, symbiotic duo is one of the best things the NBA has to offer. From John Stockton and Karl Malone beautifully hooking up on the pick-and-roll to Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen wreaking havoc on both sides of the ball, it’s thrilling to watch two terrific players totally in sync with each other taking on the league together. Sadly, not all great basketball players can coexist and generate positive results. For that, we have couples’ therapy.
For the inaugural edition of The Dimer Outlet’s Couples’ Therapy, we take a look at the Washington Wizards. More specifically, we zero in on the unhappy coupling of two of the most exciting young players in the league: the athletic, unselfish and “partying” John Wall and his backcourt mate, the oft-injured and inconsistent Bradley Beal.
These two — one a visionary passer more than willing to distribute the rock and the other a shooter with decent driving ability — should be able to join forces and create one of the league’s best backcourts, rivaling those in Toronto and Portland. Wall is consistently grouped with world-class point guards like Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving, and he’s well-noted for his hustle and defensive instincts. And although Beal has struggled with injuries since entering the NBA in 2012 (never played more than 73 games in a season), when he is on the court, he’s a career 16 point-per-game scorer on 39.5 percent shooting from deep. Wall and Beal should be able to make it work.
Instead, the Wizards have only made the playoffs twice in Beal’s first four seasons and distressingly regressed last season, finishing 41–41 and three games back of the eighth seed. This, too, came after a year when Washington finished fifth in the East and took the №1-seeded Hawks all the way to seven games. Wall succumbed to a wrist injury during that series, and even as the Wiz lost that tough showdown with Atlanta, there was hope for the future that hasn’t been realized since.
This past summer, in a surprisingly open and honest interview, Wall said that he and Beal “have a tendency to dislike each other on the court.” Other rumors about their personalities clashing have picked up more steam as of late: Wall apparently is more outgoing and likes to enjoy the nightlife while Beal is low-key and quiet. Throw in the fact that Beal now makes a whole lot more money than Wall — $22 million a year to Wall’s 16.9 — despite most believing the Kentucky product is a much better overall player, and it’s clear why there’s some tension.
The relationship, to say the least, is fraught with team frustration, miscommunication issues and plain old jealousy. But does that mean it’s hopeless for Washington to try to keep these two together?
Well, first, the Wizards have to decide that — even on the best of nights — do these two really add that much to each other’s games? It may come as little surprise that the connection between Wall and Beal isn’t all that special on the court, no matter the two’s abilities. Per the research of The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, the Wall and Beal backcourt is statistically similar to a Wall and Garrett Temple duo or Wall and Ramon Sessions duo. That ain’t good.
Delving deeper into Washington’s disappointing last season, the numbers are a little worrisome. 39 percent of Beal’s overall shots were pull ups — compared to 28 percent on catch and shoot — and, typically, those are plays where Wall won’t be heavily involved. And while Wall passes to Beal more than any other Wiz, that connection is just fourth on the team in resulting in an actual assist. Beal’s shooting stats when assisted by Wall are about on par with his overall career numbers. But all of this suggests that these two are merely decent partners, not two guys combining perfectly with each other to devastate NBA defenses.
Maybe a part of it has been coaching. Scott Brooks is entering his second season in Washington, and one of the peculiar aspects of the Scott Brooks hiring — other than the lame, half-assed attempt to get Kevin Durant — is that he’s used to coaching two transcendent talents that might or might not be able to coexist. The problem is that, by and large, the Thunder with Durant and Russell Westbrook underperformed. Much of the criticism centered around Brooks’ inability to figure out the best ways to incorporate both Durant and Westbrook.
Brooks might be a decent coach, but he’s not the right guy to repair and remold the on-court relationship between Wall and Beal. Even worse, for all the perceived failures of Durant and Westbrook being able to successfully mesh their playing styles together, they actually liked and respected each other. It’s a lot easier to make a relationship work when one guy still chucks up ill-advised three-pointers or misses a wide open man when there’s mutual respect.
In a small sample size of just three games this season, the Wizards, Wall and Beal have all not looked good. Wall’s been passing the ball well with over 11 assists a game, but he’s committed an atrocious 19 turnovers in three games. Beal is shooting under 40 percent from the field and under 30 percent from three. Most importantly, the Wizards are 0–3 and, while they’ve kept all three close relatively close, they’ve just been outplayed for a majority of the season thus far.
So what should the Wizards do? The most logical answer would be to trade one of them. However, Beal is injury-prone and has yet to live up to being drafted third overall; simply, Washington is not going to get a great return on him. Maybe if he picks things back up this year, averages closer to 17 a game and shoots around 40 percent from three (something he can definitely do, by the way), they can trade him in February and get some solid pieces back. If he stagnates and misses multiple games, the market for Beal isn’t replete with viable options.
If trading Beal is actually going to make the team worse and not really bring back any players of value, should the Wizards look at shipping off their franchise superstar Wall? Possibly, and this situation is reminiscent of dissatisfied, otherworldly talents like Carmelo Anthony in Denver, Chris Paul in New Orleans and Kevin Love in Minnesota. Much like those three late in their tenures, Wall is pissed off because his team has hit a ceiling, he has a smaller contract compared to other similar players and the future portends more of the same (a.k.a. low 40-win totals). Anthony, Paul and Love were all ready to play for teams that could offer playoff contention and better supporting casts.
The results for those three franchises since then have been mixed. Denver hasn’t made the playoffs, yet they now have an intriguing young roster — still sans a notable star. New Orleans drafted Anthony Davis. They’re still awful, and it’s not hard to imagine Davis forcing his way out in a few seasons. And Minnesota, potentially the most successful by default, got Andrew Wiggins in the Love trade and appears to have one of the most promising futures in the entire NBA.
For the Wiz, even if they were to trade Wall, there’s no guarantee it would help the franchise in the long-term. Quite bluntly, the Washington management has shown no evidence that they could turn whatever players and picks they get in dealing Wall into something exciting and encouraging in a few years. It’s a big ask to trade away one of the franchise’s best players in its history without being able to promise an improved future.
So what’s the solution in Washington for Wall and Beal? The expectations around the two should probably be adjusted. They’ve shown nothing in four years to say they can be a premier backcourt in the league, but that doesn’t mean they can’t form a solid, steady playoff-contending one. Also, Wall is an unbelievable talent while it seems like Beal will never reach that early-career hype. An adjustment from a possible NBA-best duo to entirely Wall’s team with good players all around would alleviate things — if only Beal didn’t have that damn contract.
Health is key, too. If Beal can play at least 70 games this year, that’s just more time for him to get better and understand how Wall wants to play. And let’s not forget that just two seasons ago the Wizards nearly beat one of the best teams in the NBA in the playoffs, if not for Wall’s injury. In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Sharp, Wall confidently said that “if [the Wizards] were healthy, we would’ve won that series in five games.” 82 games of Wall, Beal and company could change a lot of things since this team does have talent.
Finally, something has to be said about players 3 through 15 on the Wizards. Wall can make everybody around him so much better. But he can only do so much. The Polish Hammer Marcin Gortat has been rather effective with Wall. Otherwise, players like Otto Porter Jr. and Kelly Oubre Jr. have been largely unreliable. Add Markieff Morris — who averaged 12.4 points and 5.9 rebounds in 27 games for the Wiz last year — and these guys could craft a much more balanced team. If they continue to underperform, the shaky Wizards front office again needs to make some moves.
Ultimately, Wall and Beal probably won’t reach the heights of Lillard-McCollum and Lowry-DeRozan, but they’re still above average. And with Wall’s playmaking abilities both on offense and defense, combined with Beal’s shooting touch and versatility, the Wizards should make the playoffs and could shock some people. This duo’s fate isn’t as dire as it seems; a little winning should do the trick. Oh yeah, and Beal needs to pay for every meal anytime he goes out with Wall.
Therapist’s recommendation: Adjust expectations, hope for health and improve the surroundings
Photo courtesy of Keith Allison (Flickr)
