Washington Wizards
The 2021-22 Washington Wizards can be defined by “blowing it up” at the trade deadline.
What did we learn?
The Wizards had a terrific start to the season.
There was a point in time — early, EARLY on — when Montrezl Harrell was included in Basketball-Reference’s MVP leaderboard. (Absolutely nobody took it seriously.)
The backcourt duo pairing of Bradley Beal and Spencer Dinwiddie looked formidable. (Narrator: It was not formidable.)
Not afraid of the dirty work, Kyle Kuzma turned into a board man, hauling in double-digit rebounds on the regular.
KCP was holding it down as the 3-and-D guy that he has always been.
The praises of rookie head coach Wes Unseld Jr. were sung all around. His lineups not only worked, but they were winning ball games.
On Nov. 15, the fighting Wiz were 10-3 and sitting perched atop the Eastern Conference standings.
It was the best Wizards start to a season since 1974 when Unseld Jr.’s dad was the star of the team.
But then the schedule got harder and the Wizards sense of direction faltered. Dinwiddie regressed mightily. The Wizards defense, their rock over the first month of the season, disappeared.
The Wiz were no longer winning many games. They were losing games, and at an alarming rate.
There was optimism that the returns of Thomas Bryant (ACL) and Rui Hachimura (personal reasons) would give the Wizards a much-needed boost. Instead, as more guys were available to play, the lineups became more muddled. The good vibes of the beginning of the season were long gone, and now there was talk of bad chemistry and locker room issues.
Then Bradley Beal went down with a wrist injury. A week later, Blue Panda had season-ending surgery to repair the torn ligament in his left wrist, a decision made just before the trade deadline. That’s when Tommy Sheppard decided to ship out many of the guys he just brought in. Dinwiddie and Bertans (the $80-million man!) to Dallas for Porzingis. Harrell to Charlotte for old pal Ish Smith. Aaron Holiday to Phoenix for ca$h.
The Wizards season was cooked, but Porzingis did torch the Lakers with that big 4th quarter, spoiling LeBron’s special night of passing Karl Malone for #2 in all-time points. There was also the 32-point shellacking of the Dallas Mavericks in the Kristaps Porzingis Revenge Game. KCP balled out that night and scored 35 points, the second-most points of his career.
In the end, turning John Wall into Westbrook and flipping Westbrook into Kuzma, KCP, Trez and a pick was the right move, and should be considered a huge success.
But it still all comes down to Blue Panda.
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Additional Notes
Shoutout to the Israeli Iron Man, Deni Avdija, who was one of only five players to play in every single game this season. Avdija made progress in his second year in the league. The 21-year-old quickened his decision making and was a really good on-ball defender. He also earned the trust of Unseld Jr., who included Deni in the Wizards closing lineups in crunch time.
There is some potential in the Kuzma-Rui-Deni lineups, providing switchable flexibility and serious length on the perimeter.
Rookie Corey Kispert played the second-most games (tied with KCP) on the Wiz with 77. Kispert had seven games of hitting four or more 3s. The Wizards other rookie, Isaiah Todd, only played 12 games, spending the vast majority of the season down in the G League with the Capital City Go-Go.
In a Wizards uniform, Porzingis averaged 22 points and 8.8 rebounds. Those numbers are on par with his Knicks days.
In the 16 games that Bradley Beal had a positive plus-minus this season, the Wizards went 13-3. And when Beal posted a negative plus-minus, the Wiz were 2-19.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
Deeper doesn’t always mean better. (That’s what she said. -Michael Scott) Under 34.5 wins.
Wizards 2021-22 record: (35-47)
Nope. This one busted at the very end for a second straight Wizards season.
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What’s Next?
The #10 pick in the 2022 draft. Some more 3-point shooting would be good. The Wizards finished bottom-5 in 3-point percentage and have been bottom-10 two seasons in a row.
Re-sign Blue Panda! Bradley Beal is eligible to sign the richest contract in NBA history this July. Five years and $248 million. Per ESPN’s Bobby Marks: “That number drops to four-years $183.6 million if he explores free agency or a possible sign-and-trade, something the Wizards would have to agree to.”
Find a point guard that fits with Beal.
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Favorite Wizards Highlights of the 2021-22 Season:
An MLK Day power dunk masterpiece, and some classic KCP.
