Season goals for the Washington Wizards starting bigs:
Rui Hachimura, Power Forward
Shoot 35% from Three
Rui showed great strides between his rookie year and last season. After shooting 28% from three on 1.8 attempts per game, he upped the volume and the efficiency last year, hitting 32% on 2.4 shots per game.
So what’s to stop him from making another 3% jump this year?
Despite the general improvement, Rui still suffers from some combination of quickness, confidence, or general willingness when it comes to shooting the ball. He loves his free-throw pull-up but hesitates to shoot the open threes, which leaves opposing defenses free to double guys like Bradley Beal without paying a price.
Hopefully, Coach Unseld will empower Rui to shoot more, and with that volume, he can become a legitimate threat beyond the arc.
Daniel Gafford, Center
Average 8 Rebounds Per Game
Despite his springy step and supreme athleticism, Daniel Gafford didn’t really crash the boards last year. At least, not when you consider his position. Part of the problem is minutes (which is probably the main culprit) but simply telling someone to up their conditioning so they can play more minutes isn’t as enticing as a goal.
Gafford averaged 5.6 total rebounds a game last season while he was with the Wizards but only played 17 minutes a game. A part of me wants to push this goal to 10, to really up the ante, but I’m trying to keep these realistic and achievable. Tell Gafford you need him to grab 8 boards a game, I bet you’ll he’ll go out and do it, even if he has to power through some conditioning to get there.
More Wizard rebounds will provide more second-chance opportunities or transition buckets, depending on which end of the floor. If he follows through, Gafford might just see his assists numbers climb as well.
It seems as though the Wizards are often a made basket, a rebound, or a hustle play of things working out in their favor. Between the new cast, Coach Unseld, and each player’s personal motivation, we have a chance to change the culture surrounding this team. We just need to collectively own it.