I know its August but there are still a few reasons to be hyped for the starts of the 2018-2019 season for Wizards fans.
1) A Healthy, Full-Strength Lineup
The above is sad. Only 30 games with the “best” starting five on the floor last season. Only 41 games with Wall even playing at all.
This year’s starting five should be: Wall, Beal, Porter Jr., Morris, and Howard. Hopefully we can get 50+ games of this group and see the benefits.
2) A Better Bench
Okay, maybe not “better”, but at least more interesting. Ernie finally did something right and made some moves that made sense. The bench is as follows:
PG-Tomas
SG-Rivers and Meeks
SF-Oubre Jr. and Troy Brown Jr.
PF-Green, Smith, and Devin Robinson
C-Mahinmi and Bryant
Still would like to see maybe a third string PG, but for now this is good. Rivers adds some depth at guard behind Wall and Beal. Meeks is a giant question mark, we haven’t seen enough of his play.
Oubre will get his and Troy Brown will be fun to watch.
Overall, I’ll take it.
3) LeBron-less East
Are the Celtics really really good? Yes. Are the Sixers and Raptors still really really good? Yes.
But LeBron is finally gone which means the Wizards have a SHOT!
4) Troy Brown Jr. is a really solid rookie
This pick may have gone overlooked by most, but the kid can ball. Great steal/defense numbers in college, third-highest defensive rebounding rate among high-major freshmen that were also 6’7 or shorter, and a 63% finishing rate at the rim.
He can pass, he can play D, that’s all the Wizards really need from him in his rookie season.
5) We have John Wall
Simple enough, the guy is entertaining every single time he steps onto the court. Now he has a legit big-man in Dwight to feed lobs to, a healthy Beal to rack up assists, and hopefully some strong enough role players in Otto and Keef.
Let’s get these boys back on the court!
