Washington Wizards: Player grades for the 2019-20 season

Highest Grades

Ian Mahinmi: 

While his contract is often cited as emblematic of the previous regime’s executive malfeasance, Ian Mahinmi still mostly lives up to his reputation as a solid rim defender. He deterred shots in the paint well despite giving up a helping of corner 3’s (61st percentile in RAD) and any paint attempts that did get through often resulted in misses (opponents shot 52.6 percent against Mahinmi from inside 6 feet; 60.2 percent is average). He wasn’t the albatross on offense that one would think he was (-1.15 O-PIPM), but his inability to do anything outside of the restricted area didn’t make generating offense easy. Grade: C-

Davis Bertans:

In his first (and possibly last) season with the Washington Wizards, Davis Bertans apparently decided to exploit his best basketball trait: shooting. The all-of-a-sudden trigger happy Bertans doubled his 3-point attempts in D.C. and maintained his enviable efficiency, as his 42.4 3-point rate ranked sixth in the league, helping him to a career-high 15.4 points per game. His elite spacing boosted Washington’s offense; the team’s offensive rating jumped from 107.6 to 115.9 with Bertans on the floor. He was a liability on defense (-1.54 D-PIPM), but ranking in the 63rd percentile in RAD shows that you can hide his flaws on a better defensive team. Grade: C

Bradley Beal:

You could take any evaluation of Zach LaVine and Devin Booker and ascribe it to Bradley Beal without anyone batting an eye. Like those two, Beal blossomed as the primary scorer for Washington; his career-best 39.6 points per 100 possessions ranked fourth in the league and given that the Washington Wizards scored 7.7 more points per 100 with him on the court, you can’t outright dismiss his output as mere stat padding.

But Beal also shares Booker and LaVine’s shortcomings on the defensive end. RAPTOR, PIPM, and BPM all paint a grim picture on that side of the floor, making it fair to question whether his offense — which has its flaws, particularly in the playmaking department — is good enough to counteract his defense. Given that Washington’s net rating remained roughly the same with him on the bench (-4.7 with him on the floor, -4.4 with him off), the answer appears to be no. Beal makes for a nice second option, but, as is the case with Booker and LaVine, him as the team’s “best player” isn’t ideal. Grade: C+