Wizards-76ers Preview
Washington begins the season with basically the same team as last year. John Wall averaged twenty-three points and nearly 11 assists a game while the other guard, Bradley Beal, averaged over twenty-three points, including shooting over forty percent beyond the 3-point line. Also, starting forward Otto Porter returns after averaging thirteen points a game, and shooting over fifty percent from the field, and over forty-three percent from the three point line. The starting center, Marcin Gortat, averaged eleven points and ten rebounds last season, and led all Wizards starters by shooting nearly fifty-eight percent from the field. Finally, with starting forward Markieff Morris out with a sports hernia, expect Jason Smith, who averaged six points last year, to probably start at the forward position.
As for the Wizards bench, the forwards that will provide a spark will be Mike Scott, who comes from Atlanta, and averages about seven points a game. Former first round pick, Kelly Oubre Jr., who will provide about ten to fifteen minutes off the bench, and last year averaged six points a game. Ian Mahinmi, will back up Gortat at the center position, and he does have a very good shooting touch, and will provide fifteen to twenty minutes off the bench, as long as Gortat stays out of foul trouble. The backup guards, consist of veteran Jodie Meeks, who can light it up from long range, and will be first off the bench when Beal needs rest. The backups for Wall are Tim Frazier, who averaged nearly twenty-four minutes a game, and averaged seven points a game and Tomas Satoransky, who can be counted for about ten to twelve minutes a game, but don’t expect much scoring from him.
Philadelphia, who should be the most improved team this year in the NBA, has a lot of talent that could provide trouble for Washington. Forward Ben Simmons, who missed the entire season last year, will make his debut starting at forward. Also providing an offensive punch will be forward Robert Covington, who averaged thirteen points a year ago, and center Joel Embiid, who might be limited to a max of eighteen minutes on the court, to his dissatisfaction, averaged twenty points and eight rebounds, despite only playing thirty-one games in 2016-2017.
Some other players to watch for the 76ers, are guards Jerryd Bayless, who missed the entire season with a wrist injury, T.J. McConnell, who started fifty-one games and averaged seven points and assists, J.J. Redick, who comes over from the L.A. Clippers after averaging fifteen points a game, and will be used for his long range shooting, especially from 3-point range, which he shot nearly forty-three percent. Finally, number one overall pick, Markelle Fultz, will most likely start the season off the bench. In regards to the big men, the two to watch are center Jahlil Okafor, who will provide scoring off the bench, but is a liability on defense, and forward Dario Saric, who averaged nearly thirteen points and six rebounds in his rookie season.
