Washington Wizards Fail To Make The NBA Playoffs
The Wizards made one of the biggest and more surprising moves of this past offseason when they traded away long-time point guard John Wall and a 2023 protected first-round pick in exchange for Russell Westbrook. While he is a former league MVP and is one of the more athletic players in the entire league, Westbrook has had his issues of late and looks for a fresh start with Bradley Beal in our nation’s capital.
Two All-Stars on one team has been enough to push a team into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference over the last few seasons, but not this year and there are plenty of solid teams in the East vying for playoff spots. Due to the fact that the Wizards’ frontcourt is the worst frontcourt in the entire NBA and that Russell Westbrook will lead the team in rebounds this upcoming year, they will fail to miss the playoffs, keeping Westbrook out of the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Will the duo of Westbrook and Beal workout and be successful? Probably, seeing as Bradley Beal is just as good off-the-ball as he is with the ball in his hands, but they do not have anybody else on this roster that can be a reliable third option. Against solidified playoff teams this season, opponents will take Bradley Beal out of the equation and force Russell Westbrook to beat them, which will be detrimental to the Wizards’ potential success.
It is not that Russell Westbrook is not a proven scorer, as he has averaged 23.2 points over the course of his 12-year career, but it is more of the fact that he can be contained. He is a 30.5% three-point shooter over the course of his career and has not shot over 30% from three-point range since the 2016-17 season, which is where teams will look to expose him.
If he gets past his defender and to the paint, it is almost a given that he will score, but if you force him to take jump shots, it makes beating Russell Westbrook extremely easy and teams have taken note of this over the years. The only way the Wizards make the playoffs this season is if they trade for a third big name player like Kevin Love, Blake Griffin or Myles Turner to help them in the frontcourt.
The Wizards ranked 28th in the league in total rebounds a season ago and until they improve to at least Top 20 in this category, they will not be discussed as a potential playoff team in my eyes. Russ and Beal provide this team with two explosive, offensive-minded players, but until they fix those issues in their frontcourt, it will not matter.
