Washington Wizards 2015-16 Season Grades

For the first time in three years, the Washington Wizards are sitting on their couches and watching the playoffs. So business as usual, then.

This was a year where many fans expected that the Wizards would take a leap – but instead, they took several steps back, and it was a season that finally cost the job of our beloved, stalwart Randall Wittman.

The Wizards finished 41-41, and it couldn’t have been a more perfect record, symbolizing how stuck in neutral this team was this season. Burn this year. Forget it. Never again will we speak about it. Scott Brooks will save us.

Let’s grade.

John Wall: 19.9 PPG (42.4 FG%), 4.9 APG, 10.2 APG, 1.9 SPG

If you spent the 2015-16 season blaming John Wall for the Washington Wizards’ ailments and questioning whether he could be the main guy on a contender, you might have missed the point guard turning in another brilliant season.

Back to that first point, though.

The Wizards had a trash coach, a trash general manager and a trash team, and it seems absurd to me that we should be blaming John Wall for anything troubling the Wizards.

Wall is damn near the only thing right with the Washington Wizards. He’s the man who, as the rest of the team faltered down the stretch, dished out double-digit assists in his last 13 games of the season. He’s the man who won Eastern Conference Player of the Month in December while fighting through injuries to every single part of his body that exists.

Wall is now the only Wizard ever with multiple seasons averaging a points-assists double-double – the only other man to do it at all was Rod Strickland in 1997-98.

He’s not a perfect player, but he’s making a pretty damn good case that he’s the best point guard this franchise has ever had. The Wizards are wasting his prime.

Grade: A-

Bradley Beal: 17.4 PPG (44.9 FG%), 3.4 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.0 SPG

On paper, Bradley Beal’s statistics look fine. But short of Beal missing the entire season, losing his touch entirely or getting abducted by aliens, Bradley Beal’s 2015-16 season was the absolute worst-case scenario for the Washington Wizards.

Beal played a career-low 55 games, starting just 35. His fiberglass legs suffered another stress reaction. But worse than his health troubles, in the year the Wizards have to make the decision whether or not to commit max money to him, Beal failed to make any major strides on the years before, and didn’t come close to replicating his playoff form.

But yet, Beal was still the one who felt it was appropriate to call out the rest of the team at the end of the season. I don’t take issue with what Beal said, but when you’re the biggest reason why this team didn’t reach its potential, maybe you should take a seat.

The Washington Wizards should let Bradley Beal walk. They probably won’t. Oh well. Hopefully they don’t live to regret it.

Grade: D

Otto Porter: 11.6 PPG (47.3 FG%), 5.2 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.4 SPG

After stealing the show in the 2015 playoffs, Otto Porter didn’t take the giant, noisy leap that many Washington Wizards fans were hoping for. But as I said in giving Porter the Wizards’ Most Improved Player Award this season, he still made a leap.

Porter distinguished himself as a capable starter and a good secondary scoring option in his third year in the league – don’t forget that this was the first time that Porter ever got regular minutes throughout an NBA season.

Porter improved with his shooting (he finished at a career-best 36.7 percent from 3, behind just Jared Dudley and Beal) and finished the season on a nice scoring run, putting up double-figures in 16 of his last 18 games.

It’s been a process, but Otto Porter’s getting there.

Grade: B-

Markieff Morris: 12.4 PPG (46.7 FG%), 5.9 RPG, 1.4 APG

I’m in total favor of absolutely nuking the Washington Wizards and starting over, with only a few lucky players maintaining their job security. And after a solid second half of the season, Markieff Morris is one of the few I’d hang onto.

Morris was brought in midseason as one of the only flashy trade deadline moves in recent Wizards memory, and while he wasn’t able to overcome the Wizards’ trashy trashness to drag them to the playoffs, he made an impression.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Markieff Morris is the Wizards’ successor to Nene, only he’s much younger, doesn’t jump like he has rocks in his shoes and has even more blinding inner anger.

A large, pissed-off power forward who can do everything pretty well? Sign me right the hell up.

Grade: B

Marcin Gortat: 13.5 PPG (56.7 FG%), 9.9 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.3 BPG

Even after three years, I still see people sleeping on the Polish Machine like he isn’t one of the best centers in the National Basketball Association and the most consistent big man this team has had in years.

Seriously, how can you hate on Marcin Gortat? He’s weaker offensively without John Wall, sure, but he’s tailored his game perfectly to hide those limitations. Isn’t that what you want? I suppose he could be a better rebounder and a better rim protector, but he was a shade off a double-double for the season.

Gortat is the devastating roll man Wall was born to play with, and he’s continued to be an excellent, mobile defender. And most importantly, unlike some of the Wizards’ more problematic players, Gortat doesn’t miss games. He doesn’t sit out for a month when he stubs his toe. You can count on a double-double every night.

If you hate on Marcin Gortat, we’re not gonna be friends.

Grade: B+