Washington Wizards 2016-17 Season Outlook: The Sixth Man
Washington Wizards lacked a real sixth man this past year, but a number of players could emerge to play that role during the 2016-17 season.
After failing to secure a top free agent this summer, the Washington Wizards turned their attention to completely revamping the second unit with hopes of regaining the depth that made the team a legitimate threat in the East just a few years ago.
In the process, the Wizards added Ian Mahinmi, Jason Smith, Andrew Nicholson, Trey Burke and Tomas Satoransky to their roster.
On paper, the Wizards have lost talent with the departures of Jared Dudley and Nene. But, in practice, the Wizards seem to have gained plenty of versatility and room for growth given the youth of the acquired players.
The opportunities under head coach Scott Brooks will be there. Any player, including the veterans, could emerge as the top dog coming off the bench.
Using the following criteria, though, I identified one player who has the strongest chance to become the “sixth man” for the upcoming season:
Using that criteria, Andrew Nicholson appears to have the most potential to become the Washington Wizards’ sixth man during the 2016-17 season.
Despite the disappointing inaugural season of the space-and-pace offense, the Wizards will continue to rely on outside shooting and transition opportunities.
Nicholson fits the mold of a modern power forward.
Last season, per-36 minutes, Nicholson averaged 16.8 points and 8.8 rebounds.
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He shot 47 percent from the field and 36 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
In many ways, he’s similar to former Wizards All-Star forward Antawn Jamison, who made a name for himself by being able to score both inside and out.
The corner 3-point shot, in particular, is something that the Wizards will be able to utilize.
A few years ago, with Trevor Ariza and Martell Webster on the roster, John Wall created more corner 3-point shot opportunities than any other player in the NBA.
Wall created a total of 109 corner threes and LeBron James was second with 89.
Nicholson shot a career-high 42 percent from the corner three last year.
For that reason (and because Brooks will likely want to stunt Markieff Morris‘ minutes), he’s going to have the chance to share the court with Wall and Bradley Beal.
As a result, Nicholson is going to get more looks from the corner than he did with the Orlando Magic, increasing both his shot output and total points scored.
Entering his fifth season in the league, Nicholson is in the perfect position to finally break out and find his role on a team. In Orlando, the only consistent part of Nicholson’s career was inconsistency.
He went from playing 16.7 minutes per game in his rookie year to 14.7 minutes last year, even though he became a more efficient and versatile player over time.
The coaching changes coupled with the constant roster turnover didn’t help Nicholson nor any other young player in Orlando, for that matter, develop.
Now that he’s in a situation where his talent will be used correctly, Nicholson could potentially become a secret weapon of sorts for Washington. There are going to be nights when he’s the second or third most productive player on the team.
Since he can space the floor, Brooks will look to give Nicholson more run with Wall, allowing Morris to lead the bench in spurts. Playing with Wall will make a tremendous difference for Nicholson; perhaps more of a difference than for any other player coming off the bench.
Nicholson checks all of the boxes. He has NBA experience under his belt, can score in a number of ways (especially from three) and he’s going to get plenty of time to play with some of the starters. The Washington Wizards have lacked a sixth man for quite some time, but they might have found one this off-season in Nicholson.
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