Four Categories Wizards Will Improve This Season

Where can the Wizards improve this season?

Washington was the worst in the league in regard to both point differential (-12.9 points) and opponent rebounding (49.9 boards). That's two areas that should improve right off the bat in the 2024-25' NBA season.

Courting an improved offense behind CJ McCollum and a full season with Khris Middleton, the Wizards should be able to average more than 108 points per game, which ranked fifth-worst in the league last year.

When a team allows 48 rebounds on average per outing, it's hard to win games. Washington has a young core established with a pair of lottery picks in Bilal Coulibaly and Alex Sarr. This tandem is going to have to produce more than 11.5 combined rebounds per game if the Wizards look to grow and win more.

The other two categories that Washington can do better in this season are field goal and three-point field goal percentages. As a trio of rookies look to debut in the NBA, Tre Johnson, Will Riley and Jamir Watkins have the potential to help the Wizards get better in more than one area.

According to Chase Hughes with NBA.com, "Johnson is arguably one of the best shooters to come through the draft in years when you consider just how proficient he was across the board. It’s not just the overall 3-point percentage (39.7), it’s the volume (6.8 3PA/g) and the versatility."

In the same report by Hughes, he reports that "Riley appears to have a knack for keeping mistakes to a minimum... Riley is also good at preventing mistakes on the defensive end when it comes to getting whistled for fouls." All of this bodes well for a team that was also the fourth-highest turnover-prone team (14.9 per game) and fifth highest in opponents' free throw attempts (23.7).

After three and a half seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, McCollum brings his career 39.7% mark from deep to the Wizards. Washington already is aware this guard can score as he torched them for 50 points (including 10 made three-pointers) last season. He has averaged more than 20 points per game for 11 straight seasons.

As Coulibaly and Sarr develop, the Wizards should cut down on the rebounds they forfeit to their opponents. As the team's offense grows with McCollum, Middleton and the incoming rookie class, the other three categories will get better, too.