Washington Wizards: 5 players the Wizards need to target in free agency

The Washington Wizards are looking to improve on a 25 win season. These are the five free agents they need to target to move back into contention.

The Washington Wizards, despite an invitation to the league’s restart bubble in Orlando, were plain bad in 2019-20. However, there were some positive takeaways from a lost season. Bradley Beal proved he can single-handedly drag a ragtag group to a league-average offense and Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant, Troy Brown and Davis Bertans proved to be useful players.

The good news heading into 2020-21 is the Wizards will add John Wall to what was a surprisingly competent offense. Beal’s presence and Wall’s addition should keep the Wizards’ offense respectable going forward but if the Wizards are going to compete they’ll need to improve dramatically on the other end of the court.

The Wizards had the league’s worst Defensive Rating at 115.5 points per 100 possessions. A defense that porous will literally sink any team’s playoff aspirations. Only the Mavericks, who had a historically good offense, would have been able to overcome a defensive rating that poor to come out the other end with a positive net-rating. So unless the Wizards are planning on swinging a deal for Luka Doncic they will need to improve their defense in a big way.

The 2020 free-agent class is viewed as a barren wasteland but that’s not really fair. Yes, if Anthony Davis re-signs with the Lakers, there won’t be any bonafide stars available but there are plenty of useful players that can make a team better. The Wizards can improve drastically if they bolster their Charmin soft defense in free agency. These are the top five free agents the Wizards need to target.