Inside The Wizards

One Position Torched Wizards The Most Last Season

The Washington Wizards were lit up by this position the most in the 2024-25 NBA season.
Scott Conrad|
Apr 8, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots the ball while Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole (13) defends in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Apr 8, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots the ball while Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole (13) defends in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Washington Wizards were unhappy with their performance last season. During the offseason, the team has sent guard Jordan Poole off to the New Orleans Pelicans for a more accomplished scorer, CJ McCollum.

Through the 2025 NBA Draft, the Wizards made more upgrades to the roster by adding rookies Tre Johnson, Will Riley and Jamir Atkins. Fingers crossed, this fixes a major area of need to make Washington's defense better this season.

Last year, the Wizards managed to defend against opposing power forwards the best. It was the only spot of the five on the court that they allowed to give up less than 20 points per game.

However, Washington struggled in preventing this position to go off against them.

Pool
Apr 8, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole (13) shoots the ball while Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) defends in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Wizards' had little to no resistance to opposing shooting guards from scoring.

Washington did not earn their third win of the season last year until December 7 when they faced the Denver Nuggets at home. It took the Wizards 21 games accomplish that feat. They had 18 losses already by that point thanks to a 16-game losing streak.

According to Statmuse.com, head coach Brian Keefe's team couldn't prevent 2,768 total points from this position. Washington held all four other positions below 2,000 total points on the season.

Ways that the Wizards can cut down on opposing shooting guards from going off on them is to take better control of the basketball. Washington was tied with the Charlotte Hornets for the fourth-highest turnover rate (14.9/game) in the league. Their defense was forcing many turnovers, either.

Position

Points Per Game

Point Guard

24.7

Shooting Guard

33.8

Small Forward

25.4

Power Forward

19.9

Center

23.7

The Wizards were one of five teams in the league who had a negative differential over 3% or higher in terms of field goal percentage. Meaning, they allowed just about every team to shoot the ball better than they did.

Washington also allowed their opponents to shoot better than 36% from behind the arc. They were the sixth-worst team in the NBA Eastern Conference and 11th worst overall.

All of these factors contributed to the Wizards allowing the two-spot to have the most success against them in the 2024-25 NBA season. Washington's three preseason games should be an excellent chance for them to attack this trend. Hopefully, the changes that have been made can rectify the situation.

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Scott Conrad
SCOTT CONRAD

My name is Scott Conrad and I am a Contributor for the Chicago Sky with Sports Illustrated.com. I am also a Contributor with FanSided on NinerNoise, as well as Da Windy City. In addition, I am the Site Editor/Expert for The View from Avalon. I spent two seasons (2015 & 2016) with the Tampa Bay Times as a Correspondent covering high school football. I am a two-time published author with more work to come. In my teenage years, I started watching both MLS and WNBA start in 1996 and grow to be the juggernauts they are in their respective sports. Much love to the career on and off the court for fellow-Napervillian and former Sky forward Candace Parker. Outside of the sports journalism world, I am a travel volleyball coach. I accepted the Head Coach position with Greater Cincinnati Volleyball Club for their U13-2 team. In terms of active sports, I play volleyball, soccer, softball, kickball and train in mixed martial arts.

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