Washington Wizards 2015-16 NBA season preview
By Tom West
Final Prediction
14th in the betting odds? A likely 5th place finish in the Eastern conference? A mid-pack team is where the Wizards will most likely be by the end of the 2015-16 season. No matter how hard their solid Big 3 of Wall, Beal and Gortat try, they just haven’t done enough to prove themselves as anything more than a 5th or 4th seed in the East yet.
Their defense is tough and their offense may improve with Beal projected to break-out and additional three point firepower, but that still doesn’t give them the components to contend. There’s only so many points that Wall can create for his teammates, and they don’t have quite enough talent to support him right now.
They can take a team like the Toronto Raptors, Bucks or Boston Celtics in the first round, and that’s about it. What happens if they come up against the Heat, or a healthy Bulls team in the playoffs, though? Their outcome is far less certain. And if they do make it to the second round, their offensive reliance on a few key players isn’t going to create much postseason success. The pressure really is on Beal to break-out, Oubre to develop quickly, and their new shooters to catch fire on a consistent basis.
Until their new offensive approach somehow destroys the NBA or Kevin Durant chooses home over contention next summer to come to Washington, the Wizards won’t be any more of a threat this season than last year.