With the regular season concluding just over a week ago, the Wizards are firmly in offseason mode. That said, the NBA will be dishing out awards throughout the postseason. While the Wizards won’t have many league-wide hardware winners, let’s give out individual team awards.
Jordan Poole had himself a season to remember, even if it doesn’t amount to playoff contention. Poole averaged his career-high in points (20.5), blocks (0.4), steals (1.3), and three-point percentage (37.8%). He also tied his career-high in assists (4.5). Poole was the most consistent player on the entire roster this year, and even when his minutes dropped after the All-Star break, he became even more efficient with his scoring.
If it weren’t for Poole having his best statistical season, the Wizards may have had a much worse season. Poole propelled the team to some of their wins, and is the most valuable player on a team without much star power.
Alex Sarr showed flashes of what could be an elite seven-footer on both ends of the floor. He finished the season averaging 13 points and led the active roster in rebounds (6.5). Sarr also had 2.4 assists a game and was 14th league-wide this season in blocks (1.5). He scored his career-high (34) against MVP candidate Nikola Jokic on March 25 and is a big part of why the team had its resurgence in March. He ended the season with ten double-doubles as well.
Kyshawn George and Bub Carrington do have cases for the teams’ Rookie of the Year. However, Sarr’s play throughout the entirety of the season pushed him into the league’s ROTY race towards the end of the season until the finalists were named, something the other two rookies cannot say. Sarr has earned himself cornerstone status on the roster, and he looks to take that sophomore jump that the next award winner did.
The most unfortunate thing for the Wizards this season may be that they weren’t competitive, but right up there with it was Bilal Coulibaly‘s season-ending injury to his hamstring. Coulibaly’s shooting splits and blocks were the only major statistical categories that saw a decline instead of an increase. He led the team in steals with Poole (1.3), while averaging 12.3 points, five rebounds, and 3.4 assists. Coulibaly will have a decent amount of time to work on his consistency headed into his second offseason. If the injury didn’t cut the season short for Coulibaly, he would’ve seen the minute increase that the other young players did, possibly improving his stats further.
With the emergence of George and AJ Johnson, and the draft additions to the roster, better opportunities should open up for Coulibaly, and efficiency should come with that as well.
While the season wasn’t great, all three of these guys did a great job with the cards they held. In the future, time will tell how these guys will contribute, with the draft and free agency looking to shape up the roster a little more and maybe add some more playable depth.
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