Washington Wizards 2016 Season Review: Jared Dudley

Washington Wizards forward Jared Dudley had one of the most productive seasons of his basketball career despite coming off back surgery

Basic Stats: 7.9 PPG (47.8 FG% and 42.0 3PT%), 3.5 RPG, 2.1 APG

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be posting individual player reviews for the guys that ended the season in a Washington Wizards uniform. We’ll continue with everyone’s favorite 3-point shooting uncle…

Remember experimenting with a Bunsen burner in middle school? There was always a kid in class who wanted to put something flammable underneath, but never did. The Washington Wizards did the basketball equivalent of that this season, but didn’t have the common sense to pull the flammable liquid away from the burner.

Washington seriously wanted Kris Humphries to become a stretch four this past season, even though the veteran forward never took shots outside of 15 feet throughout the course of his 12-year career.

Randy Wittman implemented a pace-and-space offense, but lacked the personnel to effectively perform it.

Humphries was jacking up ugly 3-point shots, and while he did knock some down, watching him awkwardly launch up shots from deep was an example of how the team was not ready to make the change in philosophy.

Eventually, Wittman recognized that Humphries actually wasn’t capable of spacing the floor adequately and made a lineup change. He inserted Jared Dudley in Humphries’ place and the Washington Wizards’ offense began to thrive.

Dudley, who adapted to the new role with the Milwaukee Bucks a year prior to joining the Wizards, was coming off back surgery and it took some time for him to find his rhythm.

After a rough start, Dudley got his legs back and his shot started to fall.

With John Wall attacking the basket and Dudley finding open looks from the perimeter, Washington actually had somewhat of a watchable half-court offense – something they didn’t have since Randy Wittman took over as head coach in 2012.

Dudley quickly climbed the 3-point shooting ranks and was actually top-5 in percentage for most of the season.

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But, by starting Dudley at the four spot, the Wizards’ defense began to suffer.

At 6’7″, Dudley admirably tried to defend bigger forwards and had some success.

He did a solid job on opposing stretch fours, particularly Kevin Love, but the team gave up a ton of size inside and lacked rim protection.

Washington didn’t have many other options on the bench and the blame cannot be placed on Dudley, who did the best he could with what he had to work with.

If the Wizards were better prepared and had other options against bigger, more physical forwards, they never would have had to rely on Dudley in that role.

Once they acquired Markieff Morris from the Phoenix Suns, Dudley’s numbers began to steadily dip. Without a consistent distributor on the bench the number of open looks Dudley got dropped and his production did too.

After hitting roughly 46 percent of his shots from deep in February, Dudley made a brutal 17 percent of his 3-point shots in March.

Before the All-Star break, Dudley was making 47 percent of his 3-point shots. That number declined to just 32.5 percent after Morris arrived to the nation’s capital. The John Wall effect is very, very real.

For comparison, Morris made 39 percent of his field goal attempts in Phoenix. He made 47 percent of his shots in Washington. Again – the Wall effect is very, very real.

Since Morris is considered the starting power forward and that likely isn’t going to change anytime soon, Dudley’s future in Washington is likely nonexistent. The team and Wall would like to re-sign Dudley, but the soon to be 31-year-old is looking for a significant raise and long-term job security.

Dudley made $4.5 million this past season and the Washington Wizards acquired him for virtually nothing from the Bucks. He should make double the amount of money next year.

Dudley gave the Wizards exactly what they needed and actually surprised some folks with his versatility. He’s a much better defender than he’s given credit for and his passing is exceptional as well.

It’s not a secret that Washington really struggled this year and had some disagreements in the locker room, but having players like Dudley and Alan Anderson in the locker room helped them keep it professional. Without Dudley’s calming presence, it probably would have gotten ugly.

Next: Why You Can't Blame Beal For Wanting Max

Whatever happens, we’ll always have fond memories of Dudley in Washington, especially since he made an appearance on our podcast. He’s one of the good guys and deserves a big pay day. Go get those checks, JD.