National Basketball Association

Washington Wizards Season Outlook 2016-17: Three Bold Predictions

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:10 p.m. ET

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Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Wizards‘ season is just days away and no one knows how good the team will be. They could climb atop the Eastern Conference standings, but they could also be a complete dumpster fire.

There’s only way to find out.

Nevertheless, the uncertainty surrounding the team didn’t stop us from making some predictions.

Nithin Kuchibholta (@nkuchibhotla) and John Cannady (@John_Cannady) joined me in discussing this upcoming season.

Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Prediction 1: Washington will flirt with 55 wins

by Nithin Kuchibhotla (@nkuchibhotla)

I can’t even outright claim the Washington  Wizards will win 55 games, because this post is meant to include bold predictions, not insane ones.

However, two years ago, the Wizards stormed out of the gates to the tune of a 31-15 record that would’ve surely ended in 50+ wins had they not completely tuned out Randy Wittman by the second half of the season.

With newly installed Scotty Brooks in charge, that won’t be a concern.

Players love playing for him and development is his strength, meaning underperformance from young talent should no longer be expected.

The starting lineup of John Wall–Bradley Beal–Otto Porter–Markieff Morris–Marcin Gortat is intact, and had an entire training camp to learn how to play with one another after outscoring opponents by 6 points per-100 possessions in limited sample size last season (a number that would’ve ranked top five in the league).

The bench has been bolstered, with Tomas Satoransky, Ian Mahinmi, and Andrew Nicholson joining Kelly Oubre (no longer on a pitch count).

Hopefully now when Wall hits the bench, the lead doesn’t go with him.

The Wizards will have no issues scoring points and will win some games just by sheer firepower.  The ability to get to 55 wins will hinge on the ability to defend, specifically in the pick-and-roll and on rotation threes – two areas where the team struggled badly last season.

I’ve been feeling more optimistic as the season draws near, and with much of the East either stagnating or making marginal improvements, there is an opportunity for Washington to capture an upper-echelon position.

Check back with me in January when I’m calling for Brooks’ job and demanding a Beal trade deadline deal.

Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Prediction 2: Scott Brooks will be in discussion for COY

by John Cannady (@John_Cannady)

In the NBA, the first thing that people point to when a good team underachieves is the coaching.

The Washington Wizards have had a strange ride in the last few years with its former coach, Randy Wittman.

For most of the regular NBA season, Wittman was brutally awful.

His offensive schemes were predictable and dated, he never made any in-game adjustments and his rotations usually left a lot to be desired.

However, “Playoff” Wittman was another story.

With Wittman changing up defenses and rotations to implementing a small-ball attack, he had the Wizards looking like contenders during their playoff runs.

In addition, if not for a few injuries during the 2015 playoffs, the Wizards maybe could have made it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

More from Wiz of Awes

Most of the time, Wittman had to win big going into the playoffs to save his job and the team did just that for two years.

Between the injuries, the reported favoritism of a few veteran players and just overall needing to hear a new voice in the locker room, the Washington Wizards, who were picked to make the playoffs and advance, did not make the playoffs and GM Ernie Grunfeld finally got tired of the old model and fired Coach Wittman.

The team decided to chase the best available free agent coach on the market, Scott Brooks, and they landed him.

Many at the time thought that the Wizards should have at least looked at a few more candidates before going all-in on Brooks, but they offered Brooks the position and he accepted.

Brooks’ rise to coaching fame came while he was the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, featuring an electric point guard in Russell Westbrook and some other guy who wears number 35 and now plays for the Golden State Warriors.

He had the Thunder in the playoffs and even made an NBA Finals appearance. Brooks has the reputation of being a players’ coach and believes that John Wall, the Wizards’ franchise point guard and three-time All-Star, has yet to reach his potential.

The Wizards have looked good in the preseason and while most basketball experts have the Wizards making the playoffs, Brooks could have this squad competing in late March for homecourt advantage in a playoff series.

Brooks still needs to figure out some things, such as a tighter rotation when the season starts for real or which big man, Marcin Gortat or Ian Mahinmi, will he go with in late-game situations.

If Brooks can figure those questions out and have a healthy team this year, the Washington Wizards could make some serious noise in the playoffs, which would have Brooks squarely in the Coach of the Year discussion.

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Prediction 3: Kelly Oubre will be in MIP discussion

by Ben Mehic (@BenMehicNBA)

“I worked hard this summer to improve everything in my game.”

That’s the typical statement that NBA players make during preseason. It’s mostly true; all players use the offseason to improve. But, there’s a difference between those who put in the time and those who put in the work. Kelly Oubre put in the work.

After not playing much his rookie year, Oubre has operated with an “I’ll show them” mentality. He was a caged beast last year, just waiting for an opportunity to showcase his talent.

Randy Wittman didn’t want the rookie on the court, instead opting to give valuable development time to unproductive veterans.

Wittman is gone and so are Oubre’s problems.

Now, the 20-year-old has a coach that actually believes in him. Sometimes, that’s half the battle.

Knowing that he has to hit shots from deep consistently and defend the perimeter, Oubre focused on improving his jumper and defense this past summer. So far, it looks like it’s working.

In seven preseason games, Oubre averaged over 13 points per game on 49 percent shooting from the field. Per-36 minutes, Oubre is projected to put up close to 14 points and 7 rebounds this upcoming season.

If he can make those projected numbers turn into actual numbers, there’s no question that Oubre will be in the discussion for the Most Improved Player of the Year Award. Last year, he averaged less than 4 points and wasn’t even in the team’s rotation.

Oubre legitimately pushed Porter for the starting gig during preseason and showed one thing that Porter lacks: confidence.

There aren’t a lot of players in the league that play with his sort of intensity and drive. He plays without fear, as seen when he defended LeBron James during preseason. You can’t teach confidence and Oubre has exactly that.

Most importantly, Oubre also has a skill-set that teams covet nowadays. The kid can shoot, defend and run. If things go according to plan, he’ll be in the discussion for Most Improved.

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