The Washington Wizards have had an up-and-down stretch after surging following John Wall’s injury. They have gone 6-6 in their past 12, beating some good teams such as the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics, but also losing to teams they should have beaten like the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat. The Wizards desperately need John Wall back from injury to stimulate their offense and once they get him back, they need to continue to implement their ball-movement centric offense.

The Wizards’ offense and overall game is much better when John Wall is playing. Their offensive rating is 109.0 when he is playing but it decreases to 106.6 when he isn’t. Their net rating also decreases from 4.3 to -0.3 when Wall is off the court. The Wizards are significantly worse when Wall doesn’t play. A lot of this stems from their transition offense, or lack of it, without Wall. John Wall is best known for his plays in transition. He is fast enough to beat the other team down the floor and get an easy bucket. No one else on the Wizards can do that and as a result their transition offense has suffered. They rarely get out and run without Wall and get stuck in half court sets that are less effective than Wall in transition. When Wall comes back, they will be a more complete offensive team.

The Wizards’ bench will also improve as a result of John Wall’s return. Tόmas Satoransky has filled in admirably for Wall. He has averaged 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists, while shooting a ridiculous 52% from three point range. He spaces the floor incredibly well and is a great playmaker. That is exactly what Washington needs on their bench right now. When Wall comes back, Satoransky will resume the role of backup point guard and will become the leader of the second unit. That will benefit both him and the bench. He will get more of an opportunity to score while the bench will get a great playmaker. Shooters such as Kelly Oubre and Jodie Meeks will greatly benefit from getting passes from Satoransky. Not only does Wall’s return help the Wizards’ starting unit, but it also helps their bench.

When John Wall returns, the Wizards will need to continue to move the ball like they have when he has been out. The Wizards assist percentage has gone from 57.9% to 64.5% with John Wall out. That means that they assist on more of their baskets made with Wall out. This is mostly because they have needed to move the ball because they didn’t have a creator without him. However the best version of the Wizards is when they have Wall playmaking and moving the ball. Instead of Wall dribbling for 15 seconds and then making a move or passing to a teammate, they should continuously move the ball until they get an open shot. This will wear down defenses and will make the Wizards a more prolific offensive team.

The Wizards need John Wall back as soon as possible. He makes them a more complete team and will need to be great if this team wants to go anywhere significant. He is too good a scorer and playmaker. He will improve their transition offense as well as their bench as soon as he returns. However once he returns, the Wizards need to keep playing the same type of basketball they are playing with him out. Bill Simmons believes that sometimes a star player who hasn’t won much is holding his team back, like how the Knicks improved after Ewing got hurt. But this is simply not the case for the Wizards. If all that was described above happens, and I believe it will, the Wizards will be a tough out in the playoffs. They could make it to the Eastern Conference Finals and maybe even to the NBA Finals if John Wall returns healthy and they play the right way.