The 2021-22 season is almost here but before it begins, let’s get into some bold predictions:
Five Bold Predictions for the Wizards
1 – The Wizards fall in the standings early (again) but make the play-in tournament. There’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen in Washington. On paper, it’s a really talented, deep squad, however, on a night-to-night basis, it becomes a major challenge to get all of the talent playing time. Figuring out the team’s hierarchy caps the team’s potential early on.
[Related: Washington’s Win Total is 34.5 at PointsBet]
2 – Thomas Bryant returns and gradually takes over the starting center spot again. Daniel Gafford has the potential to be something special on the defensive end of the floor, though let’s not forget how well Bryant was processing before his ACL injury. Bryant is currently the franchise’s all-time leader in true shooting percentage and the center ranks fifth all-time in PER. The Wizards front office has preached efficiency as a metric they highly value all offseason and TB coming back gives them a chance to improve in that area.
3 -. Washington sends Kyle Kuzma to Sacramento for Marvin Bagley and a lottery-protected first-round pick. Tommy Sheppard has a history of taking low-risk swings on former first-round picks and Kuzma could end up in Sacramento after all.
4. Washington trades for Pascal Siakam. Sheppard cashes in some of his chips, sending Rui Hachimura, Davis Bertans, Montrezl Harrell, and two first-round picks (a top-5 2026 first-rounder and the lottery-protected pick from the Kings’ predicted Kuzma trade) to Toronto in exchange for Siakam.
5. The team keeps Bradley Beal‘s confidence. OK, this may not be that bold given every indication out of Washington that the All-Star is likely to remain with the franchise. However, it’s worth noting that even if the Wizards fail to advance past the play-in tournament (my prediction) the front office will have done enough for Beal to sign a new, five-year max deal in the offseason.
