How To Fix The Washington Wizards
It is now 10 straight losses for the Washington Wizards. Yes, they fell to the LA Lakers in Hollywood last night on a last second dunk by former Wizard Center Thomas Bryant. This is the franchise’s longest losing streak in franchise history. How can these errors and issues get fixed in Washington? What needs to happen to turn things around tor the Wizards? Well, I will give you five things that needs to happen.
Philadelphia 76ers G/F Matisse Thybulle is one of the league’s premier defenders - USA Today
1. A Trade needs to happen
The Wizards can use a spark. One person who has been hiding behind closed doors throughout this losing streak is GM Tommy Sheppard. Everyone knows how bad Washington’s defense is. If they can pull off a trade for a perimeter defender, that should help smooth things out. I would get on the phone and call Philadelphia about a player who is buried at the end of their bench who happens to be one of the best defenders in the entire league - 76ers G/F Matisse Thybulle.
Jordan Goodwin may be the Wizard’s Secret Weapon - USA Today
2. Make a Lineup Change
The Big Three is set in stone for the Wizards. You can’t bring any of them off the bench no matter what because they have been solid all season and they work well together. So you look elsewhere. Monte Morris has experience coming off the bench. He’s solid to say the least and he is someone you can depend on no matter what. Send him to a reserved role and insert Jordan Goodwin. Goodwin is explosive and will give the team a different dimension in the lineup, more explosiveness.
The Wizards are desperately missing Rui Hachimura- USA Today
3. Get Healthy
Depth seems to be shrinking in Washington. When the season first begun, many felt the team to be deep. They had so many options initially. However, injuries have plagued the Wizards as Delon Wright and Rui Hachimura have missed countless games at this point. Hopefully their return is imminent because these two players are actually key pieces to this team. Bradley Beal needs to stay healthy as well because he is the engine of the Wizards.
4. Insert the PIP (Performance Improvement Plan)
Speaking of Bradley Beal! Sometimes, it seems as if Coach Wes Unseld Jr. isn’t getting the most out of Bradley Beal. This team needs a dog! They need someone to have the Mamba Mentality. Coach Unseld Jr. has to let Brad be that guy. He is getting a strong pass surprisingly at the moment. Not many coaches last after a 10 game losing streak. Perhaps the Wizards front office should implement a PIP once the team is fully healthy. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a plan set in motion if they do decide to move on from him. I still don’t understand how Mark Jackson still doesn’t have an NBA Coaching Job til this day.
5. Push the Pace and Speed up the Tempo
The Wizards are 24th in fastbreak points this season. To be frank, this is a cause for concern and cringeworthy. This team has too many athletic and special players to be in the bottom half of fastbreak points. Kyle Kuzma is one of the league’s most versatile players. Kristaps Porzingis is scary because he would dunk on you or shoot the three ball at any given moment. Jordan Goodwin has young legs that can run with the best of them. Bradley Beal is a star, and Rui Hachimura is one of the game’s most special talents. The team will experience so much more success if they pushed the tempo just a bit.
