When the Washington Wizards acquired Emeka Okafor this last offseason, I wasn’t sure what to think. Okafor definitely came with a lot of positives. He had the reputation of a good defensive center and would be a steadying locker room presence. On the other hand, there were a lot of reasons to be worried. Okafor only played 27 games in the previous season due to a left knee injury, and I was concerned about his durability. There were also questions of how effective Okafor would be on offense playing with another center like Nene.

The Good:

• Durability: Regardless of whether he was worth the money, Okafor definitely brought a lot to the Wizards. Despite offseason concerns about his durability over the year, he played the second most minutes on the team and only missed three games. On a team that was often beat up and injured throughout the year, Okafor was the one player you could count on showing up and playing well in the Wizards’ frontcourt.
• Defense: The Wizards’ clear strength this last season was their defense. They finished 8th in average number of points allowed per 100 possessions in the entire NBA. While a lot of credit should go to Randy Wittman and wing defenders, Okafor also deserves a sizable amount of credit.   Sports illustrated profiled in February how Okafor and Nene anchored the Wizards’ great defense, and how Okafor and Nene were the motor that made the Wizards’ great defense go. Okafor was a vital component to the Wizards’ greatest strength, and for that he should be commended.
• Locker Room Presence: One of the major reasons Okafor was brought in to help cultivate a mature locker room presence. While that’s all well and good, many times its hard to see the benefits from a “strong locker room presence”, because one can’t usually see its direct effects on the players. Not so this time. When John Wall hit his stride to begin March, beat writers quickly attributed his improved play to a locker room argument between Okafor and Wall. If Wall keeps up his improved play next season, Okafor hefty price tag will have been worth it.

The Bad:

• Offense: While Okafor posted his lowest field goal percentage since his second year in the NBA, I am not sure that his play this season was necessarily an indictment of his offensive abilities. Rather, I think Okafor was simply not a good offensive fit. During Okafor’s last full year in 2010-11, he operated almost entirely in the paint, shooting only 29 midrange jumpers. This year, however, Okafor was forced to play away from the basket and took 228 midrange jumpers, almost a full 200 more than he did in his last full year.  And since he’s not particularly good at them, shooting 38.6% on those jumpers, both his offense and the Wizards’ offense in general suffered.

Overall:

While Okafor was a steady and consistent player that showed up to play each night and brought the Wizards’ defense to new heights. But Okafor’s offensive difficulties were a huge detriment. Unless Nene rediscovers his midrange touch, the Wizards’ offense will continue to suffer when both are on the floor. Okafor definitely is a net positive for the Wizards, but his inability on offense might really limit the Wizards’ ceiling next year.

Apr 10, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards point guard John Wall (2) shoots the ball over Miami Heat shooting guard Mike Miller (13) in the first quarter at Verizon Center. The Heat won 103-98. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Despite their 29-53 record last year, the Washington Wizards were a solid team across several major statistical categories.  They were a shocking good defensive team. Led by the veteran big man duo of Nene and Emeka Okafor, the Wizards allowed a paltry 100.6 points per 100 possessions, or good enough for the 8th best defense in the league. They were also a decent rebounding team, only getting outrebounded by an average of one rebound a game, which ranked 16th best in the NBA. So what was the cause of the Wizards’ troubles? Simply put, the offense is awful.

Simply stating the Wizards offense is awful doesn’t convey the extent of the Wizards’ ineptitude.  It’s the worst in the league, the worst Wizards’ offense in nine years, and 7th worst in franchise history. Even though it improved to 23rd in the league once John Wall returned from injury, figuring out why the Wizards’ offense was so bad, and how it can be fixed, remains the top priority for the offseason.

While any offense this bad has plenty of complex problems, they seem to boil down to the fact the Wizards take the most shots from areas they shouldn’t and the least shots from places they should.  For example, the Wizards like to shoot jumpers that are 15 to 19 feet away from the basket. They shot these jumpers the second most of any kind of shot on the court. The only type of shot the Wizards shot more than these jumpers were shots at the rim, which are the most common shot in basketball. The problem is these 15 to 19 foot jumpers simply aren’t good shots. They are less accurate than a layup and worth less than a three pointer. And not only are they generally inefficient, the Wizards are bad at this shot relative to the rest of the league. They rank 25th overall in total field goal percentage at shooting this specific jump shot, which they take the third most out of all of the teams in the NBA. And not only that, the Wizards also rank dead last at shots at the rim, which is inexcusable considering the Wizards’ sizable investment in two high-quality centers and John Wall’s major strength is getting to the rim.

So if the main problem with the Wizards’ offense is bad shot selection, what can Wizards’ management do to fix it? First, coach Randy Wittman could change the Wizards’ offensive scheme to stress three pointers and shots at the rim. Unfortunately, coaches rarely overhaul their offensive schemes once implemented, so it is very unlikely this is going to happen. Alternatively, the Wizards could acquire better personal to fit its current offensive scheme, but again, this is unlikely. The team is close to the salary cap, and there aren’t any power forward who could hit jump shots on the market anyway. So barring major (and unlikely) improvement from Wizards’ players, get ready for another year of stagnant offense in Washington.

Mar. 8, 2013; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal (3) reacts on the sidelines against the Brooklyn Nets during the first half at Barclays Center. Nets won 95-78. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Bradley Beal is done for his rookie year. While it is a sad day for Wizards fans everywhere, let us take this opportunity to reflect on Beal’s rookie year. After struggling for his first three months, Beal caught fire in January on out. He averaged over 17 points, over 45% from three, and looked like the makings of a franchise cornerstone. Below, I have outlined 6 of my favorite Beal moments. I suggest everyone take to twitter and do the same.

6. Beal talks Jesse Jackson in pre-draft interview.

Bradley Beal takes basketball incredibly seriously. If you read any interview of Beal, you’ll find his approach to basketball and his mindset during the game as serious as they come. But on topics other than basketball, Beal seems to have a great sense of humor. That was on display during the first interview Beal had at the Verizon center, when he came for pre-draft workouts. I hadn’t seen Beal talk before, and he came across as funny, articulate, and relatable. I mean honestly, who doesn’t want to sleep on a plane instead of talking to Jesse Jackson?

5. Bradley Beal scores 28 points in win over Milwaukee Bucks

Beal, who was only two days removed from a risk injury, was lights out, going 10 for 17 from the field and going 4 for 5 from three point range. With Wall playing the role of the facilitator with 10 assists, this game was one of the best examples during the season of what could be in a John Wall and Bradley Beal backcourt. And it was glorious.

4. Beal drops a career high 29 points against Knicks in loss

March 1^st seems like an eternity ago, before John Wall discovered his jumper and started imposing his will on the league. But it was games like this one, where Beal was the star and Wall was clearly the second best guard in the backcourt, which made Wizards nation as a whole question building around Wall instead of Beal. And that’s less a knock on Wall then it is a compliment to Beal. In this game, he scored a career high 29 points on 21 shots. Yeah, it was pretty cool.

3. Bradley Beal dunks all over Marshon Brooks

One of the most surprising things about Bradley Beal this season has been his athleticism. I falsely assumed going into this season that his short stature (compared to other shooting guards) combined with his smooth stroke from the outside meant that he didn’t have the ability to get to the rim. Well, I was wrong. Beal had several great dunks throughout the season, and we’ll only see more of them as he gets better at attacking closeouts as his career goes on.

2. Bradley Beal’s buzzer beater game tying three against the Brooklyn Nets

This is the first of two late game heroics on this list. The beginning of the season, the Wizards were constantly fighting up hill, especially when A.J. Price went down in addition to John Wall. When Jordan Crawford is your major ball distributor, you’re going to have problems. But that doesn’t meant the Wizards didn’t put up a fight. Beal showed off his three point shooting prowess to miraculously send this game into overtime. Even though the Wizards lost the game, the elation I felt at that moment is comparable to almost any I’ve had all season.

1. Bradley Beal’s game winning shot over the Oklahoma City Thunder

You knew this had to be first, right?

In my mind, I split the season into two parts. And no, not before John Wall got back and after John Wall got back, even though he came back the next game. This is, at least for me, the moment the season turned. Beal takes an extraordinary move to propel the Wizards over the team who at the time had the best record in the league, and he was probably fouled in the process too. Before this moment, the Wizards were 4-28 and one of the worst three teams in the league. As silly as it sounds, this buzzer beating shot is the moment I felt that the Wizards had taken back their season.

In short Wizards fans, don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened. Thanks Bradley Beal, this season was really fun.