Wizards primed for long playoff run in 2014-2015

After going 44-28 last season, good enough for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference, the Wizards look primed for a big season ahead of them in 2014-2015. For a team that has been trying to get over the hump since the Gilbert Arenas days, this will be their best team in a long time.

The time is now for John Wall to take the Wizards far into the playoffs. By Geoff Livingston (Flickr: John Wall) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

They added free agents Paul Pierce and DeJuan Blair to the mix to give them much needed veteran leadership especially from Pierce. Pierce replaces Trevor Ariza who had a stellar year for Washington last season.

Even at his advanced age, Pierce is still a better scorer than Ariza, but definitely doesn’t play the same kind of defense. The main catalysts of the Wizards are in their backcourt where Bradley Beal and John Wall have figured out how to play together and create a very scary duo.

Washington will bring back veteran and spunky point-guard Andre Miller. They also brought back center Marcin Gortat, who averaged 13.2 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game to pair with power-forward Nene. With that physical duo patrolling the middle, it will be tough for anybody to score at the basket without a fight.

Washington averaged the 16^th most points in the NBA but held their own on the defensive side of the ball being ranked in the top ten in points allowed. Head Coach Randy Wittman has this team primed to make a long postseason run and lucky for him, they finally have the pieces to do so. The fans at the Verizon Center should be very hopeful when the season starts and should do their best to make it a tough place for opponents to play.

The East has gotten a little better than last season and the Wizards will have to play their best basketball all season long if they want to keep up with the East’s elites but they have the man and firepower to do so. A note to the rest of the NBA, don’t sleep on Washington — the nation’s capitol has a relevant basketball team again.