Washington Wizards: Hot start should propel them as a playoff contender

The Washington Wizards are off to a great start that shouldn’t be ignored. 

Through seven games the Washington Wizards are 5-2, just one game back of the top seed in the Eastern Conference: the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. Before their last game in which they lost to the Atlanta Hawks, the Wizards 5-1 start was tied for the franchises’ best over the past 30 seasons.

Who would have guessed that two weeks into the NBA season?

It’s way too early to predict anything about the future of this season for any team thus far. However, out of all the weird things that have transpired to begin the 75th NBA season- the Bulls impressive start, the Golden State Warriors back near the top of the standings, and the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets struggles – the Washington Wizards impressive play is definitely the weirdest.

Not many people saw this coming as most NBA media members believed the Wizards would suffer without Russell Westbrook who they traded to the Los Angeles Lakers this past offseason. However, it’s been quite the opposite so far in our nation’s capital. In fact, the Westbrook deal was the best thing to happen to this franchise in a while.

Instead of relying on one or two players to do everything offensively, which has been the case in DC since the days of John Wall, the Wizards actually have a deep roster for the first time in a long time.

Having quality role players like Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma – who were both acquired from the Westbrook deal, along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – come off the bench is a massive upgrade from last season where their best options off the bench were Ish Smith and Raul Nato. Plus, the Wizards also have promising young players Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert along with solid veterans like Aaron Holiday and Davis Bertans giving them quality minutes off the bench.

Their starting five is a similar story as their bench. Washington is just a deeper team with better players.

There’s Bradley Beal, of course, who remains one of the best scorers in the NBA. Other than Beal though, Spencer Dinwiddie has performed really well thus far. The 28-year-old is averaging 18.8 points per game, 6.3 assists per game, and 5.3 rebounds per game.

There’s also Rui Hachimura, who at just 23-years-old, still holds a lot of potential for this Wizards franchise. The former Gonzaga Bulldog has not played in a game this season but there’s hope he’ll be available to return to action soon.

Last but certainly not least there’s Daniel Gafford, also 23-years-old, who has proven to be a viable big man in today’s NBA. Plus, Thomas Bryant, their usual starting center, has been sidelined due to injury and hasn’t played at all this season. The big man is scheduled to come back to action sometime in December, according to Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard.

It may sound too simple, but having depth is such a luxury in the NBA. In fact, depth has been the story of the 2021-22 season so far. It’s early but looking at the standings right now, all the teams near the top have really quality depth: The Heat, Bulls, New York Knicks, Warriors, the Utah Jazz, and the Wizards.

In the NBA, we often look at the teams with the best superstars since the NBA is such a superstar-driven league. One player can dictate the outcome of the game like no other team sport. Having said that, basketball is still a team sport. In the world that we live in today where everyone has their own brand and so much attention is put on the top players, teamwork, and depth get overlooked.

A team being able to play eight to eleven players on a nightly basis is not just good for lowering the minutes of a team’s two best players, but it can build team chemistry as well since most players get time on the court. Having said all of that, improved depth is just one reason the Wiz are better this season.

Other reasons for Washington’s success include their efficiency on both ends of the floor.

The Wiz are currently 10th in the NBA in both offensive and defensive efficiency, according to John Hollinger of ESPN. They also average 112.4 points per game which currently is eighth in the NBA and are shooting 82 percent from the foul line – fifth in the league.

What makes those numbers even more impressive is that they rank 22nd in the NBA in pace of play according to Hollinger, so the Wiz are essentially able to put up points with anyone while also having the ability to slow it down in the halfcourt. That’s impressive!

Putting that all together, the Wizards are one of the most efficient teams in the league that put up a lot of points and can make their free throws down the stretch of a game. No wonder Washington has been successful so far. Those are qualities of a winning team.

The question remains, as it does with most of the teams at the top of the standings: can they keep this up? It’s hard to say as it’s too early in the season to know much about anything, but one thing about this Wizards team is for sure: they have depth.

Wizards fans must be beaming with joy as this feels like the first time in a while that the Wizards franchise has a good team filled with young, promising players. Hopefully, for Washington’s sake, they can keep up their impressive play and maybe even avoid the play-in tournament and earn a fifth or sixth seed in the playoffs.