Washington Wizards: Setting the table for the 2020 offseason
By Alex Saenz
A Washington Wizards offseason primer – looking back and projecting ahead
Relatively speaking, things may be looking up in D.C. Gone are the days of heated practices becoming Woj alerts, coaches/teammates calling out a max-player, and interpersonal feuds making their way onto SportsCenter, and in are the off-season workout videos and the return of playoff aspirations.
Before we turn the chapter to 2021, let’s review the main takeaways from the 2019-20 Washington Wizards‘ season.
Bradley Beal is an offensive superstar
Bradley Beal followed up a career year in 2018-19 with a brilliant encore this past season. All-star snub be damned, he was simply one of the best offensive players in basketball. The advanced stats back this up – ranking top-ten in oBPM (+5.3), oRPM (+4.8), and FiveThirtyEight’s offensive RAPTOR (+5.4).
With John Wall out to rehab his torn Achilles, Beal proved more than capable of shouldering a huge burden – the only players to exceed his 34.4 percent usage rate in 2019-20 were Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, James Harden, and Trae Young – four heliocentric titans.
The remarkable thing about Beal’s season is that he didn’t shoot particularly well, at least by his standards. In terms of eFG% (so not taking into account free throws), he was less efficient from the floor than in any prior season since 2014-15. The growth in Beal’s game stemmed mainly from his improved ball-handling and physical strength. He practically lived in the paint this year, which allowed for the massive uptick in free-throws (5.5 to 8.0 attempts per game).
Back in his younger days, Beal was seemingly always in a rush when he put the ball on the floor – not confident or experienced enough to bend the defense to his will. Now, on the other hand, Beal has the handle and patience to let the play develop and read the entire floor. He may not be a John Wall-level savant, but Bradley Beal has become an outstanding playmaker for others.
He wasn’t exactly surrounded by incredible floor-spacers, either. Over one-third (36.4%) of Beal’s possessions on the season included at least two non-shooters (Hachimura, Bonga, Payton II, Mahinmi) on the floor with him. And that’s not even counting other so-so marksmen like Ish Smith and Troy Brown Jr. Washington still managed to have a 114.0 offensive rating with Beal on the court – he carried them all year-long.
If Beal can ever rekindle his long-range shooting touch from earlier years (39.4% on 5.6 attempts per game from 2014 to 2018 before falling off the past two seasons; another example of the Wall effect) – then watch out. He’s already a complete offensive player, but emphasizing the three-ball again could put him that much closer to the Harden/Curry/Lillard stratosphere.