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Washington Wizards: How The Team Will Replace Jared Dudley’s Production

By Ben Mehic

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The Washington Wizards‘ main goal this off-season was to add perimeter shooting. After a successful NBA playoff run — largely attributed to Randy Wittman‘s decision to play small — Ernie Grunfeld finally decided to focus on surrounding John Wall and Bradley Beal with shooters.

With Paul Pierce gone, the Wizards quickly found a replacement by using a large trade exception to acquire Jared Dudley from the Milwaukee Bucks. At the time, the Wizards seemed to have found a steal. They gave up a heavily protected second round pick for the versatile veteran, which essentially equates to nothing in NBA terms.

Dudley was supposed to play spot minutes as a starter at the small forward spot, but even more importantly, he was supposed to fill the stretch four role for Wittman’s club. The 6’7″ swingman filled that role for Jason Kidd‘s team last season and the young Bucks even got some playoff experience under their belts as a result.

Even though Dudley isn’t a marquee name, he’s still a key rotation player for most teams in the league.

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Otto Porter was expected to start, but Dudley could’ve easily played 25+ minutes right out of the gate for Washington.

Unfortunately, the Wizards suffered a setback yesterday after they announced another injury this summer.

Dudley will miss approximately 3-4 months of action following back surgery that repaired a herniated disc.

If the timetable is correct, Dudley will still miss all of training camp and essentially the first month of the season. Back injuries are tricky, though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Dudley misses even more time than expected.

Of course, after the injury announced, a saw plenty of fans start to panic on social media.

Again, even though Dudley doesn’t have the flash associated with him that someone like Pierce does, he can be just as good in Washington. With him gone, the Wizards will have to find a way to replace his potential production.

Dudley is solid in virtually every aspect of the game. He can defend well, has a high basketball IQ and knows how to move without the ball. His shooting, however, is undoubtedly the biggest aspect of his game that Washington will miss.

Thankfully, the Wizards should have enough shooting on their roster that will allow them to make significant progress on the offensive end of the floor this upcoming season even during Dudley’s absence.

Porter has worked diligently on his jump shot, which is something he understands he needs to do in order to get consistent minutes in Washington. In the playoffs, Porter shot a respectable 38 percent from three for the Washington Wizards.

Wittman played Porter alongside the starters for most of his time on the court during the playoffs, so it’s not a coincidence that his shooting percentages rose.

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With Wall and Beal doing most of the heavy lifting, Porter is typically left alone on the perimeter.

It basically becomes pick your poison: either play Wall one-on-one, which will likely result in a basket inside, or collapse on the world’s quickest guard and leave a perimeter player open.

Most of the time, the defense will opt for the latter.

Simply put, Porter is going to get plenty of open looks from the perimeter.

His corner three point shot will become extremely important to the offense as well. While he’s not a knock-down shooter like Dudley, he’s certainly capable of filling that void for the Washington Wizards.

Wittman will also have the opportunity to rely on Alan Anderson for outside shooting, who’s probably the best backup swingman the team has had in a long time.

In a recent podcast interview with ESPN’s Amin Elhassan, Washington Wizards’ Vice President of Basketball Operations Tommy Sheppard talked about the importance of adding the veteran forward.

His ability to space the floor and create for himself will take a lot of pressure off the star back court. At times, it wouldn’t surprise me if Anderson started for the Wizards depending on the match up.

Still, Washington’s toughest replacement might be Dudley’s role as the team’s stretch four.

While Dudley’s away and recovering from the surgery, Washington will likely play Porter at the four spot in spurts, but they will also rely on Drew Gooden and Kris Humphries more than originally expected.

During the regular season last year, Gooden shot an outstanding 39 percent from three. In the playoffs, that percentage rose to a ridiculous 46 percent. I mean, those are almost Stephen Curry numbers (don’t get carried away, Ben).

He’s not a prototypical stretch four, but Gooden is certainly capable of spacing the floor for the Washington Wizards’ guards. Humphries has also been working on his three point shot, so it’ll be interesting to see if he ends up knocking down any threes next year.

The point is, Washington will still be able to play similar lineups that they would’ve played if Dudley was available. Washington could play Wall, Beal, Anderson, Porter and Marcin Gortat together, or they could play traditional lineups with Nene at the four spot at times as well.

Porter’s improved jump shot, along with the additions of Anderson, Gary Neal and possibly even Kelly Oubre should be enough to overcome the Dudley loss. On paper the Wizards look to be OK. Now it’s just a matter of those aforementioned guys hitting shots on a consistent basis this upcoming season.

Next: Where Washington's Remaining Free Agents Could End Up

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