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Washington Wizards: Looking Back At Preseason Predictions

By Joe Atmonavage

May 15, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) is hugged by forward Drew Gooden (left) on the bench against the Indiana Pacers in the final minute in the fourth quarter in game six of the second round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. The Pacers won 93-80, and won the series 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
May 15, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) is hugged by forward Drew Gooden (left) on the bench against the Indiana Pacers in the final minute in the fourth quarter in game six of the second round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. The Pacers won 93-80, and won the series 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Before the season started I made five predictions about the Washington Wizards 2013-14 season.  Some bold, some not so bold.  Let’s take a look back at those predictions and see how I fared.

Here is the original post:

1.  Bradley Beal will lead the team in scoring.

Well, 0-for-1, but I was close on this one.  Beal ended up finishing second behind John Wall in scoring.  It was either going to be Wall or Beal to lead the team in scoring, but I took Beal because I thought he was poised to make a leap in his second year.  And I wasn’t wrong.  Beal was quite good all season averaging 17.1 points per game while shooting 40.2 percent from the field.  Beal got more and more comfortable as the season went along and was arguably the Wizards best player in the playoffs, upping his scoring average to 19.2 points per game.  I can certainly see Beal being the leading scorer next year if he continues to improve.

2.  Randy Wittman will get fired.

All right, I don’t like how this is going.  I was pretty confident in this prediction before the season because I just didn’t trust Wittman, who had struggled mightily in all his previous other coaching years, but he did a solid job with this Wizards team.  He will most likely be getting an extension heading into next season because he got this team to where management wanted: the playoffs.  Is he the long-term guy at the helm for the Wizards?  Probably not, but only time will tell.

I think I might have said something smart … let’s see …

3.  Jan Vesely will shoot less than 40 percent from the foul line.

WE DID IT!!! Vesely shot 34.5 percent from the foul line this year.  He was traded to the Denver Nuggets mid-season and shot better there at 42.3 percent.  But in his final chapter as a Wizards he went 8-of-30 from the line (26.7 percent).  I guess Airwolf thrives in the high altitude.

4.  Otto Porter will have a disappointing rookie season.

Uh-oh.  I’m heating up.  Porter’s season was disappointing.  There’s no way around it.  I wrote a season review of his rookie year here.  I was down on Porter when I made my predicition because he was coming into camp with a nagging injury, but also because with veterans Trevor Ariza and Martell Webster ahead of him, he just wasn’t going to have any chance to contribute right away, especially with missing training camp and the preseason.  Hopefully, with a whole year under his belt, Porter can have a strong sophomore campaign.

HEAT CHECK!!!!

5.  The Wizards will make the playoffs.

I guess I’m just a closer.  The Wizards had constructed a roster good enough to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08 and with career years for Wall and Ariza, as well as the addition of Marcin Gortat, the Wizards snagged a No. 5 seed.  It helped that they were in the Eastern Conference, but a successful season like this one is certainly something to build from.

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