STAYING: Bradley Beal, Jarell Eddie, Marcin Gortat, Markieff Morris, Kelly Oubre, Otto Porter, Marcus Thornton and John Wall.
ADDED: Trey Burke (Utah), Danuel House (Texas A&M), Ian Mahinmi (Indiana), Andrew Nicholson (Orlando), Sheldon McClellan (University of Miami), Daniel Ochefu (Villanova), Tomas Satoransky (FC Barcelona) and Jason Smith (Orlando).
GONE: Alan Anderson (LA Clippers), Jared Dudley (Phoenix), Drew Gooden, JJ Hickson, Nenê (Houston), Ramon Sessions (Charlotte) and Garrett Temple (Sacramento).
STRENGTHS: They have a terrific two-way point guard in John Wall … Last season, he came really close to averaging 20 points and 10 assists, something only 10 players have accomplished in NBA history … His playmaking has really improved over the years … Underrated defender … Terrific in the open court … He’s joined in the backcourt by a massive long-range threat in Bradley Beal … Solid center duo with Marcin Gortat and Ian Mahinmi, both very capable defensive players who don’t need the ball to be effective … Wizards should expect progress from first-round picks Otto Porter and Kelly Oubre … Scott Brooks is probably an upgrade over Randy Wittman.
WEAKNESSES: Overall talent level is nothing to call home about … Outside of Wall and Beal, any other Top 100 NBA player in Washington? … They don’t really make up for lack of star power with depth … Beal’s durability is a real issue … He has missed 20 games on average his first four years as a pro … A team like Washington can ill-afford to play without its second best player so many games … While Mahinmi should help there, don’t expect Washington to be an elite defensive or rebounding squad … They were near the bottom of the league in both rebounding and opponent shooting percentage last year … Washington could miss a glue guy like Jared Dudley, who was the team’s best three-point shooter in 2015-16.
PREDICTION: 2nd in the Southeast Division, 9th in the Eastern Conference.
SALARIES:
