3 ways the Washington Wizards can fix their defense

Try out Troy Brown Jr at point guard

If the Wizards are going to send Isaiah Thomas to the bench and ditch the zone defense for good, they will need someone manning the point who can actually provide a defensive presence. Ish Smith probably won’t cut it.

In steps the second-year wing Troy Brown Jr.

After Bradley Beal, Thomas, and Smith, Brown is the team’s best ball handler and playmaker. More importantly, he’s one of the Wizards’ best on-ball defenders, if not the best. Standing t 6’6″ with a nearly seven-foot wingspan, Brown is the perfect player to bully and bother smaller guards on defense.

While he has started the last two games, Brown has been starting at the three. That’s where he spent most of last season as it is considered a more “natural” position for the wing. But the Wizards were big on the idea of positionless basketball this offseason. It’s time for Scott Brooks to really lean into this whole development thing and try the 20-year-old Brown out at point guard.

Unlike Thomas, Brown provides value on both ends of the floor. Per 100 possessions, Brown has the second-best defensive rating and third-best offensive rating among Wizards that have played more than two games this season (per Basketball-Reference).

Of course, moving him out of the starting small forward spot would open that spot up once again, continuing the carousel of inconsistency in Washington. Nine games in and this team has already used four different starting lineups. It’s time for a fifth.