Despite the loss, the Washington Wizards showed a lot of flashes in their most recent preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets. Trae Young had 11 assists, Bilal Coulibaly finally had a strong performance, and the team as a whole put on an offensive clinic, shooting 47% from deep.
However, there was one major issue, and it wasn't a coincidence. Anthony Davis wasn't in the lineup, and as a result, the defense looked incredibly bad. Sure, it's preseason, but allowing the Brooklyn Nets to score 131 points certainly isn't the best look.
Davis is the best defender on the team, so, understandably, the team's defense takes a dip when he's not playing. But Davis also has a relatively extensive injury history, and if he misses a chunk of games this season, the Wizards will need to fare better on defense than they did on Monday.
The Wizards' defense lives and dies with Anthony Davis
The Wizards have good defensive pieces. Alex Sarr projects as a future All-Defense-caliber center, but he still has some bad habits on that end, as every young big does. Coulibaly is the best perimeter defender on the team, but his offensive shortcomings prevent him from seeing extended minutes at times.
AJ Dybantsa projects as a good defender too after self-proclaiming that he got lazy on that end in college, but he hasn't played a regular-season NBA minute yet, so it's too early to tell. However, besides that, the Wizards have a lot of negatives on defense, especially at guard.
Everybody knows Young isn't guarding much of anything, and Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson lean much more offensively. The Wizards' best overall defender and most valuable player by a wide margin is Anthony Davis.
All it takes is these two preseason games to see how different the team looks when Davis plays versus when he doesn't. He provides consistent offense as well as the gravity to create looks for others simply by drawing so much attention on the court.
On defense, however, he's still one of the best in the league, and the Wizards are going to need it. He can cover for some of the growing pains the team will face with Sarr protecting the rim, and he provides an elite second level of defense for when guys like Young inevitably get beat on the perimeter.
His versatility is also extremely underrated on that end. Despite not being in his athletic prime anymore, he's still one of the most switchable bigs in the league, and he's plenty capable of defending the perimeter. To put it lightly, he's such an impactful defender still that the Wizards could feasibly be a top-10 defense with him on the court, and a bottom-five one when he sits or misses time.
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