Washington Wizards 2015-16 Season Predictions: The Frontcourt Could Be the Fatal Flaw by David Statman

We’re back with another edition of Washington Wizards Mailbag Monday.

As always, if you want us to feature your question, don’t hesitate to let us know @WizofAwes.

Today’s questions come from Twitter and Reddit.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday. Thanks for participating.

We all know about Klay and Curry out West, but is the Wizards’ backcourt of Wall and Beal the best in the East? – via Boymankid

I don’t want to get off topic, but someone asked me this question the other day: who’s the second best player in the Eastern Conference? After giving it some thought, John Wall might seriously be the best player in the conference not named LeBron James.

So, what does that mean? Well, the Eastern Conference lacks the star power for the West. That alone would give the Washington Wizards a huge lift in terms of backcourt rankings.

Wall and Bradley Beal don’t have much competition in the conference.

There’s four really solid duos in the East: Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose, Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, and of course, Washington’s duo.

Wall is probably the best player on the list, while Beal still has to develop before catching up to someone like Butler. With that said, objectively, I’d probably still put Butler and Rose over Wall and Beal. That doesn’t mean that won’t change this upcoming season, though.

If Beal makes the All-Star team, then Washington will have the best backcourt in the East. You could still make the case for them, but as of right now, I’d still rank Chicago’s duo over Washington’s — giving them some added motivation.

@WizOfAwes Wall is great at defense. But during the regular season he often lets PGs like Teague and Brooks go in for easy layups. Why? — Daniel Barish (@dmbarish) September 7, 2015

John Wall is arguably the best defensive point guard in the NBA. However, like every player in the league, he’s flawed.

Wall has always had trouble guarding those quick, small point guards. Aaron Brooks, in particular, gives him fits because he does a great job of making the most of his space.

Nowadays, most point guards are long and athletic, which gives Wall a significant advantage. Someone like Brooks is quick, knows how to handle the ball in traffic and makes tough shots.

In their fourteen meetings, Wall has outplayed Jeff Teague.

It might seem like Teague gets the best of Wall occasionally, but really, Wall has dominated the match up. Occasionally we’ll see Wall slip up defensively, but that’s probably because he’s become so committed on that side of the floor. It’s easy to see a mistake because it’s rare, essentially.

Wall is a fantastic defender who has trouble guarding small guards. I don’t think it was much of a concern last year, and as he continues to develop, he’ll eventually become good at defending guys like Aaron Brooks too. Hopefully we’ll see him start guarding other positions in the future as well.

@WizOfAwes We need Nene to be our backup C yet we're told he doesn't want to play C. Do you think he'll accept the role and play hard? — Chris Dachi (@cdachi) September 7, 2015

Man, this is a really good question. Unfortunately, we won’t know the answer until the season begins.

At some point, we’re going to see Nene play the center position for the Washington Wizards this upcoming season. He’ll probably start at power forward, but Randy Wittman seems committed to continuing with the small-ball trend. Nene will get swapped out for Jared Dudley, Drew Gooden or another perimeter player early in the first quarter.

I don’t know if Nene’s issue has ever been “playing hard”. For the most part, Nene has always showed up and given solid effort. Now, will he continue to do so if he’s playing a role that he doesn’t want to play? That’s something we’ll have to wait and see.

Nene is entering the final season of his contract, so perhaps he’ll be motivated to get another deal. On the flip side, I could also see Nene retiring after this upcoming season.

I’ll give Nene the benefit of the doubt. I think he’ll come to camp healthy, play hard and accept the role he’s given.