2019-2020 Washington Wizards Season Outlook
October 21, 2019By: Zach Ruff, Basketball Analyst
Our 2019-2020 season outlook concludes with the spiraling Washington Wizards.
Key Additions: Moritz Wagner, Isaiah Thomas
Key Subtractions: Dwight Howard, Jabari Parker
Draft: Rui Hachimura, Admiral Schofield (via trade)
The Washington Wizards had an interesting offseason. They became the third team necessary to facilitate the Lakers landing Anthony Davis and clearing cap space to try to sign Kawhi, yet their biggest splash came by way of a 1-year, $2.32 million dollar deal for Isaiah Thomas. Just last week they extended star shooting guard Bradley Beal in the form of a 2-year, $71.8 million dollar contract that makes him only the second highest paid player in D.C.
It’s no secret that the John Wall/Bradley Beal experiment has led to less and less success as the years go on. Wall, the highest paid player on the team, is not likely to see the court again anytime soon, with some reports stating he will miss the entire season. Beal has improved year over year since 2015 in terms of scoring, however, the powers that be in Washington have been unable to provide enough complementary pieces for the Wizards to get past the Conference Semifinals with this core. Not to mention, the Wizards have not reached the conference finals since the 1978-1979 season.
To try to answer questions surrounding their backcourt pairing, Washington looked to Isaiah Thomas. Thomas had a remarkable two-year stretch back in 2015-2017 with the Celtics but only played in twelve games last year for the Denver Nuggets. Isaac Bonga is an unproven talent that may be what the Wizards are looking for in terms of court vision and deference to Beal, but it is far too early to tell. The most promising pieces of the new-look Washington squad are Rui Hachimura and Admiral Schofield. Hachimura spent the last three seasons at Gonzaga and in 37 games last season averaged 19.7 points on 59% shooting with 42% from three. For reference, Kyle Kuzma in his last year at Utah shot 50% from the field and 32% from three and is making a solid name for himself with the Lakers. Schofield took 3x as many three pointers last year and also sunk 42% of them. In an ever increasing 3 point shooting league these two rookies may provide enough firepower to drudge through the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Final Outlook on the 2019-2020 Washington Wizards
Uncertainty and disappointment have been the name of the game for Wizards fans for several years. Will Bradley Beal continue to improve his already fantastic scoring ability or will his new contract rob him of the motivation to keep grinding? Can all of these new, young players come together to challenge the teams at the top of the Eastern Conference? Probably not. Final prediction, 30-52 and on the outside looking in for the second straight season.
Thank you for following us at Tailgate Sports through our series of outlooks on all 30 NBA teams. We look forward to bringing you more insight and opinions throughout the year. If you haven’t already, check out the In the Paint podcast for more NBA news and reaction.
