3 Ways the Wizards can Improve from Behind the Arc

After a hot start to the season, the Washington Wizards have not only come back to reality but have fallen well below expectations. It’s not too late to turn it around if the correct approach is taken.

Problems need to be solved. Not just solved, but solved soon. The good news is the Wizards have a number of options to solve most of their issues.

Wes Unseld Jr. needs to be active in finding solutions, as does the front office. The roster also bears responsibility, so they need to collectively make the changes that will help them on the court.

The most glaring problem for the Wizards so far this season is perimeter shooting or lack thereof.  In the month of January, in which the Wizards went 5-9, the team shot just 31.8 percent from behind the arc. That was the fourth-worst percentage in the league.

It wasn’t an outlier, either. The Wizards actually hold the third-worst three-point percentage in the league, as of February 4th.

It’s a bit surprising given the roster construction entering the season. This is certainly not something the front office thought would be an issue this far into the season.

Why were expectations higher? A number of factors added up gave the impression of a roster that would shoot better. Bradley Beal, the Wizards best player, has shot over 37 percent from deep in his career. Right now, he’s hovering around 30 percent for the season.

Davis Bertans, now out of the rotation entirely, is one of the highest-paid players in the league that only does one thing on the court, shoot the ball. The team drafted Corey Kispert in the first round, widely seen as one of the top shooters in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Additions like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kispert and Aaron Holiday were supposed to make for a solid shooting team. It hasn’t panned out.

So, how can the problem be solved? There are a number of different avenues to fixing the teams shooting woes, all of which we’ll discuss here.