With Kyrie Irving being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics in exchange for a package revolving around Isaiah Thomas, all the talk seems to be about a future Eastern Conference Finals match-up between the two Eastern powerhouses. What people seem to forget is that the Washington Wizards took a Celtics team that was the number 1 seed last season to an electrifying seven games in the playoffs. The Wizards managed to keep their core players intact and there's no reason to believe that this team won't build on the success that it experienced last season, especially with players like John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter Jr. posting career numbers last year.
The Wizards were one of the league's most dynamic offenses in the league behind their superstar backcourt in John Wall and Bradley Beal. Both of these players do an excellent complimenting each other's game. Wall is essentially a one-man-fastbreak and Beal is one of the best shooters scorers/shooters in the game. When both are healthy, they create problems for any defense, as shown by Washington's staggering 109 points per game.
Many of the Wizards' opportunities came around Wall's ability to attack the basket and create open looks for shooters like Beal and Porter, and it only gets better with additional depth in Jodie Meeks and Kelly Oubre Jr. In addition, they have post players that could step out and hit the the mid-range shot in Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat. This team has plenty of weapons offensively and Scott Brooks has done a remarkable job utilizing the talent that his roster carries, helping the team win 8 more games than the prior season.
Where the Wizards really struggle in on defense. They finished in the 20th out of 30 in defensive efficiency. There is no one player or rotation to really point at. Their struggles are simply a result of a lack of team defense. The Wizards have the capability of playing solid defense with solid perimeter defenders in Wall and Beal in addition to a big front court led by Gortat and Morris, but the team needs to put more emphasis on playing inspired on the other side of the floor.
Expect the Wizards to finish around the top of the conference, most likely behind the Cavaliers and Celtics. The team has the talent and culture to possibly knock-out one of these two teams in the playoffs, but it's clear that they are not projected to beat either one of these teams in a best-of-seven series. However, this team definitely deserves to be in the conversation as one of the teams that could make it out of the conference.
