Washington Wizards Monday Mailbag: Imagining a World Where Wittman Is Still Coach, Melo Returns Home, and Gortat is Traded

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May 7, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards head coach Scott Brooks on the bench against the Boston Celtics during the second quarter in game four of the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

Washington Wizards fans of old, could mark this week as an exciting lead up to the annual NBA Draft. This year, with the team again without a first round pick, instead many other questions surround the Wizards. With that, the Monday Mailbag!

They say the NBA is a year round sport, and they are not wrong. The 2017 NBA Draft is on Thursday, NBA Free Agency begins on July 1st, and rumors are swirling around Pacers’ star Paul George. As Washington doesn’t have much excitement around its 52nd pick in the draft, I’ll answer some questions while we wait.

With that, here’s Mailbag Monday!

Hey there Andy. A question I actually haven’t seen asked before. It’s likely because we all assume that Wittman would not have taken the team to 49 wins.

Wittman coached four seasons in Washington, though it felt like six. His two highest win totals were 44 and 46, though the 41 win dip in 2015-16 got him fired. It is sad but funny to look back on the 2015 series against Toronto, where fans openly wanted Wittman fired, but knew he wouldn’t be after the team won the series.

If the Wizards had not fired Witt, I think the result would have been somewhat similar to the 2013-2015 seasons, when he averaged 45 wins a season.

Firstly, the team wouldn’t have been able to sign Kevin Durant. Oh wait, Brooks wasn’t able to get that done either.

Under Wittman, Washington’s offense wouldn’t have been as potent as it was this year. Brooks committed more to playing small ball, with Otto Porter and Markieff Morris as the bigs, and that lineup was one of the team’s best units, commonly causing problems.

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The team probably would have had a better defense though. Under Wittman, the team was usually among the top 10 defensive squads. This season, the Wizards had the 12th worst defense in the league. In March break they allowed their opponent to score at least 114 points in seven straight games. Because of the offensive firepower, Washington managed to win five of those seven games.

I don’t think another year together would have done much good for the team. Witt showed that he wasn’t very open to changing rotations, and he certainly wasn’t willing to play and develop young players like Kelly Oubre Jr.

After one season in Washington, Oubre is one of the team’s biggest young prospects, and Brooks trusted him enough to give him just over 20 minutes a game in 79 games. Wittman gave him 10 minutes a game his rookie season, in only 63 games.

To be fair to Wittman, I have to note that the health of the team was huge with the Wizards winning 49 games. Bradley Beal missed 27 games in Wittman’s final season in Washington. This past season, he missed only 5.

With all that said, Brooks proved that he was the right choice for the team. Some were skeptical because of the offense he ran in Oklahoma City, and the team starting 2-8, but his player development acumen continued, and he seemed to earn his rep as a player’s coach as the season went on.

He trusted Beal to be neck and neck with John Wall for shots per game. He allowed Otto Porter to grow his role, and become a max player. He managed to keep the team humming, despite poor bench play all season long.

Wittman, alternatively is still flipping that clipboard somewhere.

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