Washington Wizards: Ranking The Top 5 Small Forwards In Recent Franchise History
By Ben Mehic
3) Paul Pierce
Statistically, Paul Pierce was a shadow of his former self during his lone season as a Washington Wizard. It didn’t feel like it.
When Pierce was cranking daggers and giving the team a cocky swagger it’s never had before or since, it felt like the Truth, in all his glory, could lead Washington to the precipice.
It was weird. It was glorious. It was also completely stunning.
After Trevor Ariza broke our hearts by signing with Houston, the Washington Wizards immediately rebounded by signing the type of man they never get: an all-time great hunting for another ring. A winner.
And then Pierce stepped onto the floor in a Wizards uniform, and quickly showed that he still had something.
Shouldering a much smaller offensive load than he had ever had before, Pierce averaged a then-career low 11.9 points per game, but his shooting stats were right on par with the rest of his work: 44.7 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three, and 82.6 percent from the line.
Pierce was certainly a beneficiary of the John Wall Effect, but where his talents were most vital was as Washington’s bailout option.
Pierce was 37-years-old and a step or two slower than anyone on the court, but he still retained incredible body control and he was a master of manipulating his defender.
Whenever the halfcourt offense stalled, Washington could feel secure in the knowledge that they could simply toss the ball to Pierce, and the old man would find a way to twist his body around and get his shot up – and usually make it.
This was the way Pierce created the greatest Wizards moment of the last 10 years: the Night He Called Game. In Game 3 of Washington’s second round series against Atlanta, Pierce banked in a fallaway stepback jumper at the buzzer in one of the most dramatic playoff wins in Wizards history.
It was everything Wizards fans had dreamed about when Pierce elected to come to DC. Pierce was going to be the final piece: the veteran scorer who would hit the big shots and give Washington a mainstream legitimacy it had never before enjoyed.
That’s exactly what Pierce was, although for various reasons the pieces never quite came together for the Wizards to become an actual contender. Pierce was Washington’s source of confidence and leadership, an NBA champion who wasn’t afraid to call out John Wall, Bradley Beal or anyone on the team not living up to the proper standard.
It was impossible not to appreciate him at the time, but when you see what happened after he left – a fractured locker room, a maddening team-wide regression and a lack of players who can actually create their own shot – you appreciate him even more today.
That’s because Paul Pierce did something almost no one else ever has: he gave the Wizards a sense of purpose.
Next: 2) Jumpman