Washington Wizards: John Wall and Bradley Beal Will Lead Team To Success In 2017

The Washington Wizards’ level of success will be determined by John Wall and Bradley Beal, who are proven winners

The Washington Wizards aren’t a glamorous franchise, and as someone who’s followed the team for years, I recognize how easy it is to get discouraged.

For the past 40 or so years, the Wizards haven’t been very good. They’ve picked busts in the NBA Draft, missed out on All-Stars and haven’t had much luck in terms of staying healthy either.

I’m a firm believer in spreading positive pixels, but I can also acknowledge that I’ve been somewhat too negative about the team’s future.

Look, missing out on a top free agent this summer hurt. The team has sold the fan base a dream for years: wait for Summer ’16 and we’ll get a game changing talent.

They couldn’t even land a meeting with Kevin Durant.

They got Ian Mahinmi, who could potentially be the least splashy free agent signing that cost over $60 million of all time. That doesn’t mean he’s not worth the money nor that he’s unproductive, but it’s not what we expected after years of waiting.

Following last year’s disaster, I can understand why some fans aren’t very excited about this upcoming season. The team has essentially decided to run it back with a better bench, hoping that added depth will propel them among the East’s elite.

But, ask yourself this: why was last year’s season considered a disaster? Because expectations were high and the Washington Wizards have been relatively successful recently.

A 41-41 season, given the circumstances, actually isn’t that bad.

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Bradley Beal missed more games this past season than he did in the prior three, Randy Wittman continued to do Wittman things and the team lacked competent big men.

In all of that, John Wall‘s best season was lost and the optimism ship had been sunk.

Washington’s struggles continued after the All-Star break and they weren’t able to regroup during the most important part of the season.

They dropped games to the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves late in the year. At the end, it looked like the team was ready to check out, and they were.

Most of the issues that the team had last year have been fixed, though.

Beal will always have health concerns, but for the sake of being positive, we have to assume that he’ll finally be able to stay on the court after signing that gigantic max deal.

The front court rotation has been addressed too.

Markieff Morris is a legitimate starter and he’ll replace Jared Dudley, who hurt the Washington Wizards’ defense and rebounding (to no fault of his own).

And, perhaps most importantly, Wittman is gone.

We still don’t really know what kind of coach Scott Brooks will be, but again, we can assume he’ll be better than Wittman after making an NBA Finals and coaching some of the best players in the world with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With a proven track record of developing young players, the Wizards finally have a head coach that will focus on utilizing the talent on the roster instead of constantly relying on broken down veterans.

To top it all off, the Washington Wizards have their entire starting unit returning. The chemistry is there and the adjustment period won’t be as long, even if Brooks will implement some new sets and terminology.

John Wall and Bradley Beal are still the leaders of the team.

Just a few years ago, the Wizards were a legitimate threat in the East having won back-to-back first round playoff series.

Washington was a Wall injury away from reaching the Conference Finals. Again – it’s easy to forget that the Wizards were actually quite good not too long ago.

Wall is a perennial All-Star and Beal played the best basketball of his career on the biggest stage the league has to offer. If that doesn’t get your excitement juices flowing, then I don’t know what will.

They know what it takes to make the playoffs, and they know what it takes to win when they get there.

The Cavaliers are the only team in the East that really stands out. After that first spot, it’s wide open.

Cases could be made for 10+ teams and the difference between the second and eighth spot might be just a couple of games. Talent, leadership and experience will ultimately be the deciding factor. Thankfully for the Washington Wizards, they have all three.

Washington is still home to the best backcourt in the East, and that tandem will only get better going forward.

Wall is going to be coached by a fellow point guard, and someone who knows how to get into that untapped potential. Beal, entering his fifth year, is due for a breakout, All-Star season and the makings for that to occur are there.

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There aren’t many people talking about the team now, but the Wizards could quietly be one of the best teams in the East next season. You can get excited about Al Horford and the Boston Celtics or the Dwyane Wade led Chicago Bulls. But none of those teams have the potential to grow like Washington does.