Washington Wizards 2014-15 Preview

With a savvy veteran leader like Paul Pierce on board, are the Wizards ready to take the next step and compete for an Eastern Conference title?

Here is a snippet of my Washington Wizards 2014-15 season preview from CelticsBlog.com, which is part of SBNation’s annual season preview project.

X-FACTOR – Team Defense
Randy Wittman has a lot of serviceable options on the offensive end of the floor, as his team performed in the top third of the league last season in terms of efficiency. The Wizards finished fifth in three-point percentage and rounded out the top 10 in overall field goal percentage in 2013-14; now, they’ve added Paul Pierce and a pair of free agent bigs that shoot above 50% from the floor. Add those factors to the rapid maturation of Bradley Beal and John Wall, not to mention one of the most skilled big man duos in the league, the Wizards should be able to get the job done offensively.

However, none of that will matter all that much if they can’t get stops on a consistent basis in the playoffs. Last year’s run to the Eastern Conference Semifinals was fun to watch, but they won’t exceed that plateau unless they lock in as a team on the defensive end of the floor. The loss of Trevor Ariza’s defensive impact will be missed, but this team has the personnel to get much better on that end of the floor.

Washington finished in the middle of the pack last season in opponent field goal percentage and while they were often able to control the pace of the game, they couldn’t always get the big stops in the big moments down the stretch of certain games. As the Wizards improve defensively, their chances of making a deeper playoff run will only increase.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2014-15
The Wizards are going to be a legitimate competitor in the Eastern Conference this season. Coming off of an exciting second-round appearance, they’ve strengthened their bench and added some experience to help the up-and-coming club get to the next level.

Cleveland and Chicago are universally looked at as the top two targets in the east this season, but the Wizards will be in the mix at the top of the conference and may even have a chance at winning the Southeast Division. As long as they stay healthy, the Wizards should lock up a top four seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and could realistically make even more noise than they did last year.

For the first time in what feels like forever, the Wizards are on the rise.

PREDICTED STANDINGS
2nd – Southeast Division
5th – Eastern Conference

FULL ARTICLE – WASHINGTON WIZARDS 2014-15 PREVIEW – CELTICSBLOG.COM

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