Washington Wizards: The Direction Of The Team Still Feels Off

Washington Wizards: The Direction Of The Team Still Feels Off by John Cannady

After lacking depth at the front court positions last season, the Washington Wizards acquired a number of big men via trade and free agency. Once the free agency period started, Ernie Grunfeld swapped trade exceptions for Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair.

Prior to getting hurt late in the season, Humphries became a key part of Washington’s rotation and replaced Trevor Booker‘s overall production. His ability to knock down the 15-18 foot jump shot made him a perfect fit along side John Wall.

Blair, however, never really found a rhythm after appearing in just 29 games for the Washington Wizards this past season.

Randy Wittman played Kevin Seraphin as the team’s primary backup center for most of the season. Seraphin, a go-to scorer in the post, quickly replaced Blair in the rotation after the preseason was over. Blair looked out of shape in training camp and that obviously didn’t help his chances of cracking the lineup.

With Seraphin gone, Washington will continue to play small-ball after having a lot of success with that style during the NBA Playoffs.

Still, even though we could expect Nene to play some backup minutes at the five spot this upcoming season, there will be minutes available for DeJuan Blair.

Washington acquired four wing players this summer (Jared Dudley, Alan Anderson, Gary Neal, Kelly Oubre), but failed to sign a big man.

The oft-injured Nene does not want to play the center position and made that clear immediately after arriving to D.C. from the Denver Nuggets.

At this point in his career, Nene isn’t dependable enough in terms of staying healthy and having a backup is necessary.

Humphries will also probably see some time at the five, but Blair is the only player who plays that position naturally, even though he’s only 6’7″.

Blair is also entering the final guaranteed year on his contract; the third season is a team option.

Given how much the NBA has changed over the past few seasons, Blair’s value isn’t as high as it once was.

When Blair was a backup with the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks, his rebounding and size was valuable to teams. Right now, though, most successful teams play small-ball with an increased pace.

With that said, Blair is no longer a great fit for the Washington Wizards, but he’ll still have a greater opportunity to play this upcoming season than he did last year.

Blair, who surprisingly turned just 26-years-old, needs to show that he’s capable of contributing on a winning team, otherwise Washington will probably look to trade the former coveted big man.

There are better big men available in free agency (Henry Sims comes to mind) and there will probably still be better bigs available once training camp begins next month. If Blair wants a shot to stick around in the nation’s capital, he’ll need to perform well during camp and the preseason.

I still think Blair is capable of rebounding the ball well and he won’t be a complete waste offensively if he gets into shape. Unlike last year, the Wizards won’t need their backup bigs to score in the post.

All Blair has to do to earn minutes is play competent defense and rebound the ball. The scoring will be taken care of by Ramon Sessions, Neal, Anderson and the rest of the bench unit.

Consistency remains the key to success for Blair. Perhaps more than anyone on the roster, Blair needs to prove that he’s capable of sticking around for the Washington Wizards.