Washington Wizards: 5 goals for Markieff Morris in 2017-18

BOSTON, MA -  MAY 2: Markieff Morris
BOSTON, MA -  MAY 2: Markieff Morris /
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Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images /

1. Defense, Defense, Defense

The area of improvement for most of the players currently on the Wizards is their ability to play defense, as most contests led to back and forth scoring throughout the year. The Washington Wizards finished the regular season ranked 23rd in blocks with 4.1 per game and 20th in defensive rating at 109.3.

This is where Markieff Morris should look to lead his squad to improved defense on the perimeter and assisting more on the inside with Gortat. Morris has seen his defensive rating slowly slip over the past couple years. Back in 2014-15 he had a defensive rating of 105 and has slowly declined to 109 this past season.

At the very least, Markieff Morris should set the goal of improving on defense and reel his rating back to the shape it was in just three seasons ago. The same should be said of his Defensive Box Plus/Minus, which has also declined each year of his career. He ended his rookie year with 1.0 DBPM, where he now sits at a low 0.3 DBPM.

Next: 10 young NBA players in need of a breakout season in 2017-18

If Morris can tighten up his defense, he will become a reliable anchor to a Washington Wizards team stacked with offensive firepower but needing vast improvement on the other end.