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The Washington Wizards are entering the 2022-23 season in a very strange spot. While they seem to think they are a playoff contender, their roster says otherwise. With the season right around the corner, we decided now would be a good time to roll out our Wizards bold predictions for the 2022-23 season.
The Wizards missed the Play-In tournament entirely last season, and struggled to overcome the midseason loss of star guard Bradley Beal. They revamped their rotation around him, and signed him to a record-breaking extension this offseason, but it still feels like Washington is missing a lot in their quest to become a surefire playoff team.
Washington could be a surprising team this season, but the state of the Eastern Conference makes it tough to see any way for them to find their way into the playoffs. With that in mind, let's jump into the bold predictions we have outlined here and see what the Wizards could end up achieving this season.
3. Wizards C Kristaps Porzingis will be selected to the All-Star game
While the Wizards were struggling without Beal on the court, they ended up picking up Kristaps Porzingis in a deal with the Dallas Mavericks to give Beal a running mate that he missed when he was on the floor last season. Porzingis instantly showed improvement in his limited action with the Wizards last season, and there's reason to believe that he and Beal can lead Washington's offense this season.
Without Beal on the court, Porzingis had a strong finish to the season with the Wizards. His numbers in 17 games (22.1 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.9 APG, 47.5 FG%) inspired hope he could reach the heights he hit earlier in his career with the New York Knicks. Porzingis didn't really have much help alongside him in those games, so getting Beal back will certainly help.
Porzingis finished the 2021-22 season playing at a high level, and if he can carry that over to this season, the Wizards figure to be a decent team offensively. It says here that Porzingis will get off to a strong start this season, and end up getting selected to the second All-Star game of his career, which would be a huge win for the Wizards.
2. Wizards SG Bradley Beal will score 30+ points per game
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The main reason for hope surrounding the Wizards right now is Beal. Beal is a star player, and one of the best all-around offensive players in the league when he's healthy. He wasn't ever fully healthy last season for Washington, though, and his numbers plummeted after his breakout 2020-21 campaign.
The hope is that adding another solid secondary scorer in Porzingis will help Beal reach the heights he was hitting prior to the 2021-22 season. Beal had back-to-back seasons scoring 30+ points per game for Washington, highlighting just how important he is to their offensive success this upcoming season.
Adding Porzingis will take some of the scoring burden off of his shoulders, but Beal will have more room to operate on offense, and it should allow him to reach the 30 point per game scoring threshold for the third time in the past four seasons. The Wizards may not be a very good team, but Beal's scoring exploits will ensure that they remain competitive in every game they play.
1. The Wizards will miss the Play-In tournament for the second straight season
Beal's injury ended up being too much for the Wizards to overcome last season, and it resulted in them missing out on the Play-In tournament entirely last season. The hope is they can sneak into the Play-In tournament this season now that Beal is back alongside Porzingis, but it doesn't seem very likely to happen unfortunately.
Beal and Porzingis should be a solid duo, but there isn't much to get excited about behind them. Kyle Kuzma and Will Barton are a decent duo at forward, and Monte Morris is just an OK partner for Beal in the backcourt. They don't really have much help off the bench either, with Daniel Gafford and Rui Hachimura being the top two options behind the starters.
The top level talent the Wizards have will help keep them afloat, but they will ultimately miss out on the Play-In tournament entirely for the second straight season. The extension to Beal has handicapped this team in what they can do moving forward, and Washington will exit this season wondering what they can do to build a playoff contender around their star guard.
The easiest path would be to simply rebuild, but unfortunately for their Wizards, that doesn't seem like an option, and they could be subjecting themselves to more seasons of mediocrity in the future.
