The Washington Wizards are a very good basketball team and nobody should want to play them in the upcoming NBA playoffs.
The Wizards have achieved new heights this season under head coach Scott Brooks. They eclipsed last year’s win total of 41 and jumped from the No. 10 position in the East to secure the No. 4 seed for the Eastern Conference Playoffs. What a difference a season makes, right?
Riding the coat-tails of rising superstar point guard John Wall and sharpshooter Bradley Beal, the Wizards have tapped into their potential this season. They now possess a threat from long-range in Otto Porter to go along with Beal, and have quality support coming off their bench.
Here’s a list of reasons Washington could continue to surprise in the postseason. There are more than five ways to win a title, but this is a quick glance at what Washington has in the cupboard to potentially make the leap.
5. Depth and experience
Depth is an important postseason component, and the Washington Wizards have a decent amount of it. After adding Bojan Bogdanovic via trade, there is now significant scoring in reserve lineup that desperately needed the attention. Bogdanovic is averaging 13.1 points per game and shoots 38.7 percent from behind the arc which is third-best for Washington.
Washington added veteran experience by bringing in guard Brandon Jennings, bringing confidence to a young bench and adding identity to a quiet group. Jennings is a shell of what he once was, but he provides a spark and swagger to a team that really needed it.
What Jennings can do in terms of pace-of-play helps Head Coach Scott Brooks when he needs to give point guard John Wall rest throughout the game. The Wizards are able to consistently play uptempo and also switch into the pick-and-roll offense they like to run. On the defensive end, Jennings annoys players with maximum effort and determined intensity.
A title run always has a couple of unsung heroes and if the Wizards bench comes ready to play in the playoffs, there’s a solid chance it could be either of the two as quality minutes will be asked of both.