Washington Wizards: 2018-19 NBA season preview

Storyline 2: Will Otto Porter Jr. break out in 2018-19?

John Wall and Bradley Beal are one of the most talented backcourts in the NBA, that’s no secret. As a team, though, the Wizards took a major step back after finishing 49-33 in 2016-17 and fourth in the Eastern Conference. Last season, they finished with a record of 43-39 and were eighth in the East.

Granted, Wall missed 41 games, but the Wizards didn’t get much out of Otto Porter Jr. in Wall’s absence. He did shoot a career-high 44.1 percent from 3-point range and put up a career-high 14.7 points per contest, but it was only a slight improvement on his numbers in 2016-17. There are still a ton of question marks about his ability to create his own shot and it showed down the stretch.

After putting up over 30 points twice in 2016-17, Porter had zero games where he achieved the feat in 2017-18.  He did notch a career-high seven 3-pointers twice last season, but there’s a lot more to be desired from his game, especially at the end of them.

In fourth quarters last season, Porter averaged just 2.4 points per game. Even worse, he didn’t appear at all in the fourth quarter in 15 games. It seems minimal, but given what’s around him, this is the season Porter is expected to emerge as a legit third option to Wall and Beal, or counterpart Kelly Oubre Jr. could see an uptick in minutes.

Oubre has provided a solid spark off the bench and hasn’t been shy about getting to the rim as he enters his fourth season in the league. Head coach Scott Brooks could find himself having to make a tough decision very soon if Porter doesn’t have a peak season, which would be damning considering the $106 million deal he signed in the 2017 offseason.