The NBA offseason is relatively dead. Players, coaches, front office staff and fans are all waiting for training camps to start and eventually the preseason. I know it can be boring during this time period, I think it is appropriate to do some digging into random teams before anyone laces up to play a regular season game. Today, lets check out the Washington Wizards who are now Russell Westbrook-less and added a myriad of players: Spencer Dinwiddie (most notably) Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Corey Kispert (their first-round pick) along with some less important fringe guys.
The Wizards are going to miss the floor-raising acumen of Westbrook but they have in his replacement some depth to complement the likes of star shooting guard Bradley Beal. I think the Wizards aren't an obvious team to believe is much improved for this upcoming year, especially considering the Eastern Conference is seemingly better talent-wise. I do think that they have more options to go to when certain lineups are ineffective. For example, if Beal is off the court, the Wizards can go to a more switchable defensive lineup that retains shooting with Dinwiddie as lead guard, Caldwell-Pope and Kispert on the wings, Kuzma at the four and Daniel Gafford at the five. This is a strangely interesting lineup that doesn't include their leading scorer, likely starting power forward -- Davis Bertans -- and 2020 and 2019 first rounders -- Deni Advija and Rui Hachimura, respectively.
The scenario I laid out is only one example of a unique look the Wizards would have to explore when they face the right opposing team. I believe the Wizards are slightly better without Westbrook and with these new acquisitions because of the flexibility the team now has in its possession.
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