Why Wes Unseld Jr is the worst head coach in the NBA right now

Many players are misused in Wes Unseld Jr’s system and are force into bad roles.

Wes Unseld Jr is one of the worst coaches in the league when it comes to bringing out the fullest potential from his players. He has managed to waste the talents of multiple highly talented players this season.

First, Deni Avdija. He is a player who excels at getting to the rim and finding shooters off the drive. That is the skill that made him special in Europe and the talent that made him the ninth overall pick in his draft.

Instead, he has been sat in the corner for a majority of the season. When he moves away from being sat in the corner and plays to his strengths, he looks like a potential All-Star. The most notable example of this was “Turbo” from shortly after the start of the new year.

Second, Kristaps Porzingis. He may be having an elite season on offense but has fallen apart on defense every time he is switched onto a guard. Despite this, he is still putting up blocks and steals at a good rate.

There are ways to prevent switching onto a bad matchup. The Golden State Warriors avoided Stephen Curry switching onto LeBron James in the NBA Finals by utilizing a hard hedge from the point guard, allowing the primary defender for James to catch up and guard the top-two player of all-time.

The only weakness to this plan would be a brief opening at the high post but is easily fixed by having another shot blocker on the floor or by recovering quickly. This is not a difficult adjustment for the Wizards to make.

Third, Corey Kispert. One of the best three-point shooters in the league. How could he possibly be misused in the offense? Easy, he is rarely involved in the sets as a shooter. Instead, he receives nearly all of his shots from the aforementioned iso plays.

The quickest and easiest way to approach this without changing any play is instead of having Kuzma or Porzingis on the wing for the Bradley Beal dribble drive to the elbow looking for a kick out to them, put Kispert there.

Another easy way to improve his numbers is to make plays for him to shoot the ball. Even some undrafted players from last draft occasionally receive play calls designed for them to shoot the ball.

These aren’t drastic changes. Both options would create better looks for their best shooter. Something that has been a thorn in the teams side all season as they are in the bottom half of teams in terms of three-point shooting.

Kyle Kuzma would also greatly benefit from a new look in the offense. He has been stuck as the bail out option for the team and rarely gets open looks from anywhere on the floor. Including him in an off-ball screen play would likely get him a few more opportunities.

His percentages have been poor, but he has been a huge part of bailing the team out after a stagnant offensive possession. He has also been underwhelming on defense, but as shown in the past that he can be a great defender.

These are all symptoms of poor coaching. The biggest concern is the fact that usually a coach has at least one great strength as a coach. Whether it be offense, defense, or player development, coaches almost always have something that makes them standout as a coach.

There is nothing Wes Unseld Jr does that separates him from other coaches. His player development has been poor, and both his offense and defense has been mediocre even with having all the tools to lead a great two-way team. He isn’t even able to say he’s an elite locker room leader as there have been issues in that department in the last two years.

This puts him into the same conversation as Jim Boylen, a coach who gained notoriety by treating his players like they were still in high school and wasting two seasons of Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen. Both players are All-Star caliber.

The only reason he is still a head coach is his name. The same reason he is incredibly unlikely to be fired. Instead, what ownership and Tommy Sheppard are most likely to do is let his contract expire and not offer him a new deal. That unfortunately means another two years after the conclusion of this season of the Washington Wizards being coached by Wes Unseld Jr.