Why The Washington Wizards Don’t Have Any Hype Behind Them

Why The Washington Wizards Don’t Have Any Hype Behind Them by Osman Baig

As I previously mentioned, I had an overall feeling that felt “off” about the direction and buzz surrounding the Washington Wizards.

However, after a few developments — Bradley Beal’s workout clip where he is perfecting his off the dribble game, the mini-camp beach picture, John Wall re-posting an article touting him as an MVP candidate — things are starting to get exciting again around this Washington Wizards team as the season gets closer.

Almost everything you read about the Wizards and the off-eason moves involves how the front office is trying to recapture that playoff “small-ball” magic for this upcoming season.

While there is no questioning that John Wall and to some extent Bradley Beal have been groomed to lead the team in this moment, I feel the key to the success of the Washington Wizards for the upcoming season is…..Nene. Yep, I said Nene.

The same Nene that many felt cost the Wizards a legit chance to upset the top seeded Atlanta Hawks on a freak play made by Al Horford.

The same Nene that is now a question mark to play the whole season healthy anymore.

The same Nene that pretty much called out Wall and Beal a few seasons ago to tell them “look here young fellas, you may be the future of this franchise but I’m not getting any younger, so this losing stuff is not going to fly with me.”

Whenever Coach Randy Wittman goes to the “small-ball” lineup, Nene is the odd man out.

The way the big Brazilian responds to this new chapter in his career will possibly determine how well the team does.

Throughout his career, Nene has shown that he can be overly sensitive, shuts down, or lashes out at his team for small things.

During the playoffs, you could tell that while Nene was content about the team doing well against the Toronto Raptors, he wasn’t‘happy with his new role.

Reporters even began to openly wonder if the Wizards should try and get Nene going early so that he remained focused and engaged throughout the rest of the game.

When Nene is focused (or angry) he instantly becomes a force that teams have a hard time matching up with. He is able to hit the mid range jumper, or make a beautiful one handed pass usually cross court for an open jumper.

Possibly even more important than his offensive contributions is his overall impact on the team’s defense. His rotations and overall presence in the middle have made the Washington Wizards one of the league’s best defensive teams.

At the moment, the Wizards do not have a suitable backup for starting center Marcin Gortat. Nene will have to slide over to the center position once Gortat comes out of the game for a breather — something Nene has voiced his opposition to on more than one occasion.

However, if you take the positives from Nene’s game (passing, mid-range jump shot, quick enough feet to defend pick and rolls) he is actually an ideal “big” in a small ball system.

One of the biggest things that have been overlooked in the Wizards recent success has been team chemistry. You can tell that the team genuinely likes each other and there hasn’t been any real beef between teammates.

Hopefully, that doesn’t change with the direction that the team is making. A big part of that will be how well Nene adjusts to his new role and I actually think Nene’s game fits into the small-ball type of game the Washington Wizards are going to try to perfect this year.

It’s a huge and shaky prediction, but crazier things have happened in the NBA.