Holmes: Washington Wizards Not Living Up To Expectations
To put it bluntly, the 2015-16 Washington Wizards have not lived up to expectations. After reaching the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs the previous two season, expectations of growth and maturity, coupled with the parity that goes with playing in the Eastern Conference should've allowed the Wizards to vie for a high playoff seed and a further playoff run.
Even after acquiring the Phoenix Suns' Markieff Morris in exchange for shipping out Kris Humphries, DeJuan Blair, and a future first-rounder, the Wizards look like a team that will finish looking in through the playoff window rather than be attending the party.
The standings at the All-Star Break show the Wizards (23-28) in the tenth spot in the Eastern Conference, three games back of eight-place Charlotte for playoff contention, and that is by all means underachieving--But who, or what, is to blame? One could certainly make the case that health has been the biggest issue: Budding star Bradley Beal has missed 21 games due to various injuries. Forwards Nene (23), Kris Humphries (23) and Drew Gooden (29) have all missed time as well, but their absences have allowed for other players like John Wall (career highs in points and steals), Otto Porter (career highs in all categories) and Jared Dudley to all step their respective games up.
So maybe injuries have only marginally hurt the Wizards this season. Maybe it's the fact that they have to live up to rising expectations. This leads to the topic at hand: Is Randy Wittman's seat finally too hot to sit on? Under Wittman, the Wizards have made the playoffs twice in four seasons. He has been the only NBA coach Bradley Beal, Otto Porter and Kelly Oubre Jr. have known, and has at least had a small hand in helping John Wall become one of the best point guards in the association. On the flip side, prior to Washington, Wittman owned very little success coaching elsewhere. His time spent in Minnesota and Cleveland were certainly forgettable, and when he was hired to be the head coach in 2012, many Wizards fans were displeased.
There have so far been five NBA coaches to have been kicked to the curb this season: David Blatt (Cleveland), Derek Fisher (New York), Jeff Hornacek (Phoenix), Lionel Hollins (Brooklyn) and Kevin McHale (Houston). Hollins and Fisher were given less than stellar rosters, so they were at the mercy of the front office and fan base to perform. Hornacek, broadly viewed as a player's coach, had been riddled by injuries and wasn't able to keep tempers cool. If Wittman's situation is comparable to any of the previous coach firings, it's Blatt and McHale--both of them have superstars on their teams, made the playoffs the year prior, and before being hired by their latest employers, did not have much coaching experience in the NBA.
So is it time to kick Wittman to the curb? For the time being, no. The parity in the Eastern Conference is the only thing keeping the Wizards' hopes alive. Any five game win streak puts them right in the middle of the playoff race, and with the team finally starting to get healthy, they should be able to do just that and secure themselves a mid to lower seed.
A lot of the chips haven't fallen Wittman's way this season--most notably the dip in talent level of key players. Marcin Gortat was close to his peak last season, playing with an aggressive, sound style that had he and Wall mastering a thorough pick-and-roll game plan. However, it didn't take long for Gortat to earn a passive shot from his head coach early on in the 2015-16 campaign, as he recorded just one rebound. It's in the air supply around the organization that Gortat and Wittman butt heads often. Yet and still, blame for Gortat's less than stellar half-season thus far cannot be placed at Wittman's feet alone.
What's more, General Manager Ernie Grunfeld has failed at surrounding Washington's backcourt tandem with any sort of bench support offensively. Not only did they lose strong leadership in Andre Miller and Rasual Butler last season, but Ramon Sessions and Gary Neal are not filling the void with any sort of offensive spark or speed. Garrett Temple has flatlined, as has Nene (almost literally...Seriously, is he still alive and kicking?)
If there's any blame to be placed squarely on the fifth-year DC coach, it's the apparently disproportionate playstyle of former frontmen Kris Humphries and current forward Drew Gooden--it evades most basketball minds as to why Wittman has either of the forwards take so many distant jumpers. That is a schematic issue, mainly because Humphries and Gooden didn't all the sudden decide to take 18-footers left and right. The team simply doesn't have a presence inside if Gortat isn't in peak condition. They've been as soft as Beal's bones--soft. Would it be so hard to acquire a Hassan Whiteside, for example, for some young talent and draft picks in exchange? That's not on Wittman, that's on the front office.
Sessions is still the most explosive point guard John Wall has ever had behind him. That's a problem, and that, too, is on the front office. Is depth in the backcourt that crucial? Ask Oklahoma City with Waiters and Augustin, Golden State with Livingston, the Spurs with Mills, and so on. It matters.
Moreover, one could argue John Wall hasn't been surrounded by less talent since his rookie season, given the current roster in Washington and the lack of depth behind the underachieving starters. NBA team's can't elevate to any notable success without a second star player, let alone lacking a second more-than-decent player who stays on the court. It doesn't happen. Where's Wall's Pau Gasol, even? Where's his DeRozan? Where's his Rudy Gay? Sure, the Warriors and Thunder star power are both outliers, without question. But, if the incompetent front office in Sacramento can acquire three game-changing players in Sacramento, there's no reason Randy Wittman has to put all his chips in the John Wall basket, nor is there a reason why Wall himself should have to rely on an only decent wing player in Otto Porter to blossom into his second go-to guy.
Perhaps the most reflective evidence upon the Wizards' front office failures was the loss of Paul Pierce this offseason. No, not that they let him go west in the first place, but that Pierce signing with another team actually mattered. There was no greater measurement of unreadiness than the apparent impact of Pierce leaving. When the absence of a 38-year-old offensively limited veteran on the back-nine of his career has such an effect on a team and a locker room no longer packed with rookies, the problem is talent, not coaching.
Every casual NBA fan knows that superstar Kevin Durant will be a free agent come summer 2016, and with the current trend of players returning to their grassroots and playing for their home team, rumors about him returning to Washington D.C. to lead to the Wizards to a championship, which has since eluded him in Oklahoma City, have been swirling. However, the momentum of the "KD-to-DC campaign is dying off, given a combination of the aforementioned problems in Washington and lack of any organizational momentum to boast upon.
There's little the Wizards can do to change their fortunes of landing a Durant or someone as influential, but it's worth wondering if replacing Wittman with a sexier hire (or someone Durant may prefer through the grapevine) would help them recruit the star. If one examines the David Blatt situation in Cleveland, cart-before-the-horse does not always go well. Coach before player can have its disadvantages.
At this point, however, making a change for these reasons alone would only set the franchise back a bit further. The Wizards should take the rest of the season and see what Wittman can make of it with a (somewhat) revamped team after the Morris trade and hope for good 2016 draft positioning. Making a change now would accomplish nothing.
Ben Holmes is a sports reporter and producer for CBS Sports Radio in Baltimore MD. He covers Maryland Terrapins Basketball and Football for Baltimore's 105.7 The Fan. You can follow Ben on twitter@HomlesOnSports.
