Anthony Gruppuso – USA Today Sports Images
The Washington Wizards, despite finishing the season with a record of just 29-53, are obviously one of the teams to watch out for in future NBA seasons. They have young pieces in place that complement each other very well and they seem to be developing a nice chemistry. All of this, of course, starts with their star point guard, John Wall.
Wall missed around half of the season, 34 games, this year while he was recovering from a knee injury, which caused many people to call his durability and even his overall potential into question. When he first returned, Wall was still recovering from the injury and getting into game-shape, so his performance was average at best. This caused the questions about him to keep being asked.
Over the last month and a half of the season, though, Wall has answered all of those questions emphatically. He’s gotten healthy, playing in all 26 of the Wizards’ games since March 1 and has easily been the best player on the floor for almost all of those games. He’s looked every bit like the star and leader of this youthful Washington team.
In those 26 games, Wall has averaged 22.7 points, 7.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and even 0.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the field. Not only has he put up great stats on both sides of the ball, but his efficiency, one of the areas many detractors always questioned, has been admirable.
Wall is looking to get a contract extension from the Wizards that will pay him max money. Though he’s still not produced at this level for an entire season, what he has done over the last month and a half of the season seems to warrant that type of contract solely based on the chance that he can play like that for an entire season. The Wizards are looking to change the fortunes of their franchise in the near future and Wall is the key to that.
Cody Williams is a Senior NBA Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.
