Washington Wizards must find balance to take their game to next level

The Washington Wizards have emerged as a top contender in the Eastern Conference, but a lack of balance hindered their success.

The Washington Wizards are coming off of their most successful season in quite some time. At the forefront head coach Scott Brooks brought a winning pedigree and mentality to a young and talented Wizards core.

However, despite John Wall emerging as not just one of the best guards in the league, but one of the most elite players, the Wizards lacked balance.

Bradley Beal and Otto Porter both are coming off of their best seasons to date, but there was a common thread throughout the team

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For every excellent offensive performance there was much to be desired on the defensive end.

The Wizards ranked in the top 10 in several categories, yet ranked in the bottom end defensively.

The Washington Wizards offense:

• Ranked 3rd in field goal percentage
• Ranked 8th in 3-point percentage
• Ranked 6th in assists
• Ranked 2nd in steals
• Ranked 5th in points.

The Washington Wizards defense:

• Ranked 24th in defensive rebounds
• Ranked 24th in blocks
• Ranked 20th in turnovers
• Ranked 21st in opponents total points
• Ranked 24th in opponents field goal percentage
• Ranked 20th in opponents 3-point percentage

Much of this played out through an underwhelming Wizards bench, which was the main issue addresses during the current offseason.

However, among the Wizards starting five, Bradley Beal performed the worst on defense.

He posted -2.3 in the defensive box plus/minus category and was the only starter with a negative value for this statistic. Second worst was John Wall ending with 0.2 DBPM.

What can be the solution?

It seems Scott Brooks is ahead of the pack with this knowledge and a recent statement may have revealed a possible solution concerning this very issue.

In a podcast with The Vertical, Scott Brooks suggested the idea of Bradley Beal focusing more on being a facilitator this upcoming season.

While it may hinder some of their offensive production, it may be wise to relieve Beal of scoring duties to some extent.

Last season, Beal played 88 percent of his minutes alongside John Wall emerging as a lethal offensive duo.

Another area that may not be of too much concern just yet, but should be addressed is that although Marcin Gortat is playing well, he is also the oldest player on the roster at age 32. While he is not getting any younger, The Wizards may want to consider adjusting minutes from their big men off the bench to give Gortat an extra breather.”

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The Wizards may rotate their big man a little more often for Ian Mahinmi, who by far led the team in DBPM with a solid 2.9 for the season.

Kelly Oubre Jr. is also approaching a very critical third year in the league. He has taken the time this summer to adjust the mechanics of his shot and hopes to improve his efficiency on offense. But if he is able to prove himself as a flexible defender in the rotation, he will have a much better chance of earning himself a payday at the end of his rookie contract.

Some fans may argue the Wizards front office hasn’t done enough upgrading this summer, that remains to be seen. It is no secret that they lacked offensive firepower off the bench, but often the absence of defense all around is what hurt most.

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If the Washington Wizards can find a way to limit their bench to blowing leads that John Wall and company set, the Wizards will be on track to another successful season.