Can the Washington Wizards Get to 36 Wins this Season?
By Noel Guerra
As of today, Las Vegas has put the over/under of wins for the Washington Wizards at 35.5. Comparing that to last season, the Wizards won exactly 35 games on the year. Can they get one more win this upcoming season? Before I answer that; let’s look back on the off-season.
The Wizards held the 10th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft and took guard Johnny Davis, out of Wisconsin. Davis did struggle in the Summer League, unfortunately. The hype for Davis has dwindled a bit, but the jury is still out on his potential contribution for the team this season.
They ended up moving Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith in a trade with the Denver Nuggets for Will Barton and Monte Morris. Both Morris and Barton possess playoff experience that could help a team that is looking to return to the postseason. Barton is a scorer, who averaged 14.7 points per game, while shooting 37% from three. Morris is a good playmaker, who knows how to make the correct decision with the ball in his hands. He finished fifth for assist-to-turnover ratio last season.
Furthermore, the Wizards added some nice depth with veterans Delon Wright and Taj Gibson. This organization made it a mission to improve the roster for their franchise player, Bradley Beal.
Speaking of Beal, his re-signing was the biggest move of the entire off-season for the Washington Wizards. There were concerns over the Wizards not retaining him. Also, there were concerns that he would cost too much. However, they gave him the max and he decided that he wanted to stay in D.C..
One forgotten aspect of last season was the fact that Beal, and the newly acquired Kristaps Porzingis, did not get a chance to play with one another. Porzingis is still looking to regain that All-Star form, and could possibly do so this season. If he can reach that level once again, the duo of Beal and Porzingis could be formidable.
Now can the Wizards eclipse the Vegas over/under and last season’s total? I wholeheartedly believe that they will get past 35 wins. In fact, they have a great chance to get 40 wins and make the play-in tournament at the minimum. The new additions and potential All-Star duo can give the Wizards a great boost to more victories.