The Washington Wizards were a huge disappointment this past season, as they missed the playoffs after two consecutive seasons of not only making the playoffs, but also winning a series. The Wizards had high expectations and were clearly expecting much more from this year's team, and because of that Randy Wittman, was fired.
The Wizards didn't take very long to find a replacement for Wittman, as former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks was hired. Brooks had success with the Thunder and was key in the development of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Now, Brooks hopes to help John Wall become as big a star as those two players are.
Wall is a dynamic point guard that, when he is on, can be unstoppable at times. Wall has been to three consecutive All-Star games and is coming off a season in which he averaged career highs in points (19.9) and assists (10.2) per game. Brooks, though, doesn't believe that Wall is as good yet as he could be, as he says that he could take it up another level, or even two or three more levels.
Brooks didn't stop there, though, when talking about Wall and his potential to get even better. Brooks thinks that Wall has a chance to be elite and among the very best in the game considering he is still just 25 years old.
"I think John Wall can be one of the best players in the league," Brooks said. "That at such a young age, he's a three-time all-star, in itself is pretty remarkable. But I think he still has room to grow and get better, both from a players perspective and also from a leadership point of view."
Aside from the leadership, Brooks would like to see Wall improve in other areas. The 6-foot-4 point guard saw his turnover rate increase last year, while his shooting percentage took a dip. Overall, Wall kind of plateaued a little bit this past season, which is no knock on him, as he has been great for the last several years. A key area that Brooks would like to see Wall get better in, though, is for him to spend more time at the free throw line. This season, he averaged just 4.5 free throw attempts per game, a number that has been on the decline since the 2012-13 season.
Brooks comes into a really good situation because he has a true star in Wall and some other nice pieces, including Bradley Beal. It's good that the head coach still thinks Wall can improve because he certainly can, but he has been to three consecutive All-Star games and is already among the elite players in the NBA, so if that improvement does come, then watch out for the Wizards' next season.
