Washington Wizards: Life without John Wall, Part 2

Washington Wizards point guard John Wall will miss 6-8 weeks to have knee surgery. Now’s the time this team grew as a unit.

The Washington Wizards were dealt a serious blow when it was announced John Wall would miss extended time (6-8 weeks) due to a knee injury. It’s the same knee injury that’s already sidelined him for 11 games this season.

Wall missed extended time from November until December and the Wizards got mixed results. The team went 4-5 during that stretch, which isn’t terrible. They did turn in one of their worst performances of the season against the Utah Jazz, falling 116-69. That’s the beauty of it, though. There’s more for this team to learn and it’s better for them to learn it now, than when Wall is playing hurt.

Wall hasn’t truly been himself this season, averaging just 19.1 points, 9.3 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. They’re still All-Star numbers, but his production is considerably down from a season ago. Last season, Wall put up 23.1 points, 10.7 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 0.6 blocks per game.

The Washington Wizards are essentially in the same spot they were a season ago, which means change is needed. They currently have a record of 28-22 this season, fifth-best in the East.

As evidenced by their 102-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, they certainly can get more out of Markieff Morris, Otto Porter, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Tomas Satoransky in the rotation.

The development of those players would go a long way in getting this team prepared for bigger things in the future. Here we take a look at how life without John Wall shouldn’t be so bad the second time around.