Washington Wizards: Why 2013-14 Will Mark a Return to the Playoffs

The Washington Wizards have been playing solid basketball since the return of John Wall. It was not long ago that Jordan Crawford was given the responsibility of running the Wizards’ offense in Wall’s absence and was subsequently running it into the ground. However, for Wizards fans those painful memories feel distant and are quickly being forgotten.

When you have a budding star like John Wall running your team it is easy to forget such memories and look to the ever-brightening future. In fact, fans of teams such as the Charlotte Bobcats and Philadelphia 76ers should even envy the team that Washington has. It has been a long time since the Wizards had anything worth envying.

The last time the Wizards were worth envying was when they had an underrated squad led by the one and only Gilbert Arenas (check out the video above, he was a monster back in his day. 60 points on the Lakers while being guarded primarily by Kobe Bryant?! Unreal.) Arenas brought decent success to Washington while having former Sixth Man of the Year Antawn Jamison and an in-his-prime, pre-knee-surgery All-Star Caron Butler. Those teams gave premier Eastern Conference teams at the time (the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers) real trouble and were always dangerous in the playoffs.

Gilbert Arenas, left, was the face of the Washington Wizards. (Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com)

Once Arenas went down with injuries everything fell apart. He had multiple surgeries in attempt to get his knees to where they once were but to no avail. Things only got worse when Arenas’ character took a major hit when he brought guns into the Wizards’ locker room.

When the Wizards finally got rid of Arenas and his contract in exchange for a washed up Rashard Lewis (an exchange of two washed-up players with horrific contracts and tarnished reputations) the locker room remained a disaster. The team was loaded with young explosive talents and personalities such as Javale McGee, Andray Blatche and Jordan Crawford.

Unfortunately, all the aforementioned players lacked the discipline and self-drive to develop without veteran leadership guiding them. The Wizards’ locker room was no better without Arenas and the shadow of his failures and disappointment lingered over the franchise. The only hope the Wizards and their fans had lay with the 6’4″ point guard product of Kentucky, John Wall.

In order to believe that the Wizards have any hope of turning their franchise around once again, you must believe in Wall and his abilities. He is the center of the rebuilding process in Washington and despite the flaws in his game (his jump shot, or lack thereof) few teams boast a better piece to build around.

Wall has shown significant improvement this year. He still speeds down the court like he is wearing a jetpack and he also still has remarkable distributing abilities. When whispers around the league questioned whether John Wall was a franchise player or not, he responded.

Every month since February, Wall’s scoring output for the Wizards has risen. According to NBA.com Wall has gone from averaging 13.3 points in February to 22.1 in March to 25 points per game thus far in April as of April 9. This also included a career performance against the Memphis Grizzlies and their stifling defense where he lit them up for 47 points and eight assists. Wall is a max player and should get the money he wants and feels he deserves this offseason from the Wizards.

While the Wizards have Wall as their centerpiece during their rebuild they also possess a few other interesting young assets. The other Wizards player that possesses real star potential in this league for the Wizards is Wall’s backcourt mate, Bradley Beal. Beal is a knock-down shooter who struggled earlier this year without having a real point guard alongside him.

Rookie Bradley Beal has found his groove for the Wizards while playing alongside John Wall. Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com

Since Wall has returned, Beal has looked like the lottery pick he was expected to be. According to ESPN not only have Beal’s scoring averages increased since Wall’s return, but his efficiency has as well. Prior to January, Beal was unable to shoot even .400 from the field. Since then, Beal’s shooting has improved so much that in February and March he shot a combined .480 from the field.

The Wizards also boast some interesting young post talent in Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin and Jan Vesely. All three of the aforementioned players have great potential just waiting to be tapped, but lack the peripheral skills to make any immediate impact.

By craftily working their way into some trades the Wizards have managed to acquire veterans that not only can have positive impacts on the court during games now but also in helping develop their young post prospects do more with their time on the court. They have an established and respected post scorer in Nenê Hilario as well as defensive specialist Emeka Okafor. These two players have seen it all in their careers and are high-character guys. They will without a question provide great leadership to the younger players for the Wizards.

Emeka Okafor’s veteran leadership and experience is a perfect fit for the Wizards young team. Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com

If next season Beal can continue his outstanding growth and Wall can remain healthy there are few teams in the Eastern Conference, or even the league, that can match up with the dynamic young backcourt of the Wizards. Their strong play will open things up for a healthy Nenê and Okafor down low. For better or worse, the Wizards are also committed to veteran Trevor Ariza for the foreseeable future. If Ariza can display some of his veteran leadership as well as his championship pedigree look for the Wizards to be absolutely explosive next year.

Since Wall’s return the Wizards have won more than half of their games. In the Eastern Conference, a .500 record is enough to get a team into playoffs. Seeing as how they are already improving on both ends of the floor in the short time of Wall’s return a full offseason and training camp could bring exceptional things to the Wizards organization next year. Wizards fans have suffered enough in recent years; next year their patience will be rewarded with quality basketball and a playoff berth.