Preview of the NBA 2021-22 season: on Washington Wizards. Data, results from the previous season, a look at their squad and future free agents, the objectives of the course, the player to watch and a forecast on the franchise.
Washington Wizards
Template
- Market movements: Russell Westbrook exit; arrivals of Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell.
- Backcourt: Spencer Dinwiddie, Bradley Beal, Raul Neto, Aaron Holiday, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Corey Kispert, Cassius Winston.
- Frontcourt: Kyle Kuzma, Davis Bertans, Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija, Thomas Bryant, Daniel Gafford, Montrezl Harrell, Isaiah Todd, Anthony Gill.
This is how they face the season
Deep roster change for this season in Washington. The residents of the capital decided to disarm the Russell Westbrook project (by EXPRESS express request of this) and in return they got four players to give more depth to the squad, such as Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (from Los Angeles Lakers), plus Aaron Holiday from the Indiana Pacers.
No one is going to expect the Wizards to fight high in the Eastern Conference. But they have decided to surround Bradley Beal with talent seeking to be a problem for more than one team, even in the play-in or playoffs if he gave them for it. In addition to the four players already mentioned, a reliable point guard such as Spencer Dinwiddie has also landed in Washington; the one that is possibly the star signing of this summer for the franchise of the capital of the United States.
The former Nets arrives after a season in which he has practically passed it blank due to a serious injury. For this reason, it will be an unknown in which state he will be able to play this campaign; But taking into account that in his last season played (2019-20) he registered almost 20 points and 7 assists, he has something to excite these Wizards.
On the other hand, Kyle Kuzma has everything going for him to detach himself from the Los Angeles spotlight and put his mind solely on his development. He has already shown scoring quality to spare, and in recent seasons he has seen significant progress on his defensive side, which was the weakest point in his game. If he continues down the same path and manages to maintain the consistency that he couldn’t get at the Lakers, it should come as no surprise that he is very important to Washington.
Another key man this season should be Rui Hachimura. The Japanese has progressed from his rookie season in terms of impact on the game. Much is still expected of him, although so far he has not been able to show it regularly. All Washington will be waiting for what Rui can develop this campaign; Added to the fact that Westbrook’s departure gives him more stripes, he must become the second sword of the Wizards if he does not want to lose ground to players like Kuzma, Dinwiddie or even Harrell.
In addition, to continue adding names, in the last draft the Wizards took Corey Kispert, who comes to the NBA as one of the best shooters in college basketball. Kispert will give more depth to a bench that will already have reliable players like Davis Bertans, Aaron Holiday, Raul Neto, Caldwell-Pope or Thomas Bryant. Names that alone may not say much, but as a whole they provide a very good depth for Washington.
But finally, you can’t talk about the depth of a team’s bench, without mentioning its starters. A possible starting five with Dinwiddie, Beal, Kuzma, Hachimura and Harrell, would be a fantasy for several NBA franchises. The Wizards this year have it and will have to make the most of it if they don’t want their star Bradley Beal to end up turning down their player offer at the end of the season and having to deal cards again.
The player to watch
When you think of Washington Wizards, you think of Bradley Beal. This has been the case for several seasons. This summer it seemed to be close to the departure of the Washington star, but in his place the one who came out was Westbrook and Beal will continue to bet on his only franchise in the NBA.
Beal is one of the toughest players to defend in the entire League. And year after year he ranks among the season’s leading scorer. It will be important to see how the new pieces of equipment are accommodated and how they are complemented by the escort. But clearly offensive power shouldn’t be lacking.
If it weren’t for the video game seasons of the Antetokoumpo, Jokic, Embiid or LeBron James, Bradley Beal would be a candidate for MVP for a long time. And with 28 years behind him, he is in the best moment of his career, mixing the maturity necessary to compete in the NBA with still several years ahead of presumably good work.
For this reason, if they know how to take care of her, the Wizards have a star for a while. It will depend on this whether the armed team is competitive; If not, Beal has a chance to become a free agent next offseason. At first, it seemed that they were taking a step backwards when removing from the team a Russell Westbrook who had very spontaneously connected with his star player and with the city. But Dinwiddie’s style should complement Beal’s even better, as he doesn’t need as much of the ball on offense.
This, added to all the reinforcements that arrived this summer, the Wizards will be able to excite the fans of the capital that their top star continues to accompany them for several seasons.
The prognosis
Elio Martínez, director of Trends Wide, leaves a personal and subjective forecast on what he thinks each franchise will do during the 2021-22 season.
Pitcher of cold water for my part to the optimistic Wizards fans; I place them in the caboose of aspiring play-in teams. I don’t see them better than Chicago, nor do I see them at the level of Indiana, Toronto or Charlotte, so by ruling out I have to place them twelfth in the East. Can I eat the forecast and have them finish in the play-in position? Of course, but for that to happen two of the group consisting of Bulls, Raptors and Hornets would have to have a worse year than Washington.
Previous team analyzed: Memphis Grizzlies. Next team analyzed: Los Angeles Lakers.
(Cover photo by Rob Carr / Getty Images)