Are the Washington Wizards Done Adding Players?
By Osman Baig
Tony Allen
Sometimes a team just needs ‘Grit and Grind’ and Tony Allen provides just that. The 35-year-old wing entering his 14th NBA season is not who you would peg as an ideal fit playing with John Wall as a career 27.8% shooter from three. Sometimes however a team needs an attitude and toughness defensively, something we began to see with the introduction of Death Row DC.
The problem was Washington just didn’t have the bodies to consistently play defense at a high level, in particular against teams with numerous wings and ball handlers. John Wall, likely their most talented defender already carries a heavy offensive burden and fatigue naturally settles in as he would routinely play 30+ minutes, often in high stress possessions as the primary ball handler.
Tony Allen, the 6-time all NBA defensive team member has a career DRtg of 102. His defended field goal percentage last season was 44.6%. For comparison’s sake, John Wall had a DFG of 42.9% and Washington’s two primary wing defenders, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter had respective DFGs of 45% and 47.5%.
44.6% did represent a slip for Tony Allen, as that figure was 40.7%, 37%, and 42.2% in the prior three seasons. That being said, the 35 -ear-old was playing 27 minutes per game last season for Memphis and it would be reasonable to assume that a lesser workload for the Wizards might enable Tony to stay fresh defensively.
Offense is the issue with Tony but it should be noted that situationally that could be hidden. Bradley Beal and John Wall led the Wizards in 4th quarter scoring, averaging 12.4ppg combined for the Wizards. In a situation similar to what the Wizards faced versus Boston in Game 2 of the conference semifinals, wouldn’t you trade some offense for Tony Allen to focus his defensive talent on Isaiah Thomas?