The Washington Wizards had one of the more difficult seasons in the NBA this season. In fact, they have not had a great time since John Wall was injured, and the responsibility for the team fell to Bradley Beal. No disrespect to Beal, but NBA teams need more than one star to win.
In that light the Wizards traded Wall to the Houston Rockets, getting the all-out effort, heart, and skill that is Russell Westbrook, The Wizards still struggled to win with Westbrook in the lineup but that was because he was playing through a quadriceps injury which would have sidelined most players for an extended time. He only sat out for two weeks.
The Wizards were also heavily affected by the health and safety protocols which meant that they were not able to field a team for a number of games. In fact, in January, they had a period of13 days where they could not play any games. They had to make these up in the second half of a very compressed schedule.
The Washington Wizards managed to make the playoffs despite the struggles they had with injury and COVID-19. Here are 5 roster moves to make.
The Wizards lost big man Thomas Bryant to a knee injury after playing only ten games. This hurt the Wizards rotations, a situation that was partially mitigated by the signing of Alex Len and using Robin Lopez amongst others.
The Wizards also lost rookie Deni Avdija at the end of the season to a fracture in his right leg which meant that he was out for a minimum of 12 weeks from the end of April. Despite the Wizards making the playoffs, the season was such a struggle that they were unable to overcome a dominant Philadelphia 76ers team.
With all this in mind, let’s take a look at the five offseason roster moves the Washington Wizards need to make.