Washington Wizards: Building A Homegrown Superstar In John Wall

Washington Wizards need to add a third star to their roster, but first John Wall needs to take steps in order to reach his full potential

Before the start of free agency, the mandate from impatient fans and even some players on the Washington Wizards‘ roster was to add a star.

The Wizards made an effort, reaching out to Kevin Durant then reportedly being very close to landing Al Horford.

After missing out on Horford, Washington quickly moved through free agency, spending their available cap room minus the room exception.

The low profile nature of their roster additions, however, did not meet fan expectations of bringing a star to the roster.

Is the pursuit of a star misplaced, though?

Instead of looking to bring a star to D.C., isn’t it time for the Wizards’ own drafted players to reach their star potential?

John Wall and Bradley Beal were the first and third overall picks in the 2010 and 2012 NBA Drafts respectively.

Coming out of the University of Kentucky, Wall was compared to Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook by nbadraft.net and subsequently has been compared to Gary Payton in terms of two-way potential.

Beal often drew comparisons to Ray Allen entering the 2012 NBA Draft.

Of the four player comps that were made to Washington’s incumbent backcourt, three of the four are Hall of Fame Players and the fourth is a former MVP who likely doesn’t make the Hall due to injury alone.

Instead of chasing stars, Washington should have two already on roster – stars that should attract other free agents to join them.

The problem is, neither have achieved that status yet.

Wall, for all of his accolades and being a three-time All-Star, has yet to be named to an All-NBA team.

Part 1: John Wall

Wall, this past season, was a constant in the Washington Wizards’ lineup until finally being forced to sit due to injury the last five games of the season (and subsequently undergoing procedures on both knees).

He was one of the reasons that a roster decimated by injury and a questionable supporting cast was even in contention for the postseason as long as they were.

The raw numbers looked great; 19.9 points, 10.2 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game.

His advanced numbers, however, tell a different story, especially when looked at in comparison to his peers.

The likes of Kyle Lowry, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook have all sported higher true-shooting percentages this past season. All of the aforementioned players had higher player efficiency ratings and offensive ratings too, per Basketball-Reference.

Wall is right up there with the best in the league as a passer and his assist percentage is symbolic of the responsibility he’s carried running Randy Wittman’s offense.

If you want to see his impact, look no further than 2012-2013 when Washington started off 5-24 without Wall and then went on to win 24 of their next 43 games with him in the lineup.

His impact goes beyond numbers which makes him slightly difficult to quantify.

That being said, you can’t ignore his inefficiencies as a scorer and shooter – inefficiencies that have stopped him from making the leap from good to great, from All-star to All-NBA and in the process hurting the efficiency of the team at critical junctures of the game.

Among those inefficiencies is a failure to get to the free throw line.

W averaged a career low 4.5 free throw attempts per game last season.

For a player with his ability and speed, that’s inexcusable.

The Kyle Lowrys and Russell Westbrooks of the world can afford an off shooting night because they still find a way to put pressure on the defense by getting to the charity stripe.

Because Wall doesn’t get to the free throw line, he’s prone to games like his 9 point performance in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers where he shot four for 17 from the field with zero attempts from the free throw line and a 14 point performance in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets where he shot six for 18 from the field and yet again did not attempt a free throw.

His struggles offensively can be a result of his lack of a go-to move on that end of the floor. Most elite point guards, like Chris Paul and Tony Parker in his prime, had moves that they relied on in the half-court.

Every off-season, Wall talks about working on his floater, his post-up game, and continuing to develop his jumpshot.

While his 3-point field goal percentage has improved, we still haven’t seen sustained improvement in the other noted areas.

The lack of development here may contribute to his shot selection in the half-court which a critical factor of his inefficiencies.

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Wall shot an astounding 418 times from 16 feet and inside the 3-point arc at a 35.9 percent clip – just 7/100 of a percent higher than what he shot from the 3-point line.

He also struggles mightily from three feet and up to 10 feet, shooting just 30 percent – an area where said floater or post game would be effective.

The counter argument would be that Wall is a pass first point guard who needs more talent around him and relying on him as a scorer is akin to asking him to be someone he’s not.

I vehemently disagree with that notion.

In the 35 games where John Wall scored 20 or more points last season, he averaged 10.8 assists per game.

In the 42 games he scored below 19 points or below, his assist average dropped to 9.8 per game.

When Wall is engaged as a scorer, he is a more effective passer because of the amount of stress he can put on a defense.

When Wall is not being aggressive offensively, teams can sag off of him based on his inefficiencies which make him less effective getting teammates into the action.

Wall is a special player who can be a force on the floor as evidenced by his Eastern Conference Player of the Month numbers above.

Later in the season when he decided to help more on the glass, he quickly accumulated four triple doubles over the last two months of the season.

He also had ridiculous individual stat lines including 41 points and 10 assists on 68 percent shooting versus the Golden State Warriors and 36 points, 13 assists, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists versus the Boston Celtics – stat lines indicative of an elite player capable of having a mini-LeBron type of impact on the floor.

These outings, however, are far too often overshadowed by the inefficient games that leave people wondering which player is going to show up on a given night: the elite scorer and facilitator who by the way can strap up defensively or the passive player who settles far too often for a long jump-shot as the shot clock is expiring.

If the Washington Wizards can get the former rather than the latter more often than not, then they already have one star in the building.

Why is there any reason to expect anything different from John Wall entering his seventh NBA season?

Scott Brooks and his staff have a track record and resume of player development.

Brooks has already mentioned shot selection and getting the the free throw line: two weaknesses of John Wall as areas he wants to see this team improve.

Brooks has also been recently described as demanding by several players – a trait which can be exactly what John Wall needs.

In terms of mentality, an equally heavy burden lies on a star player’s shoulders (unless you’re in Golden State).

John Wall has to embrace that and have that motivate him rather than looking for help from outside.

Gilbert Arenas is a great example of this.