2014-15 Review

The Washington a Wizards finished the regular season with the number five playoff seed. They went on the road and swept the Toronto Raptors in the first round before losing to the Atlanta Hawks in the second round. The Wizards just ran out of bench strength and broke down near the end, but nonetheless it was a successful season for them as they weren't going to get past the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals. 

New Additions

Jared Dudley

The Wizards were not overly active players in the offseason free agent frenzy as they are desperately saving cap room for next season's pursuit of Kevin Durant. To this end the Wizards did add Dudley in hopes of shoring up their bench for the playoffs. Dudley certainly isn't that game changer that will propel the Wizards into the realm of title contenders but he will help provide some offense off the bench. 

Key Losses

Paul Pierce

Pierce bolted from Washington to reunite with Doc Rivers in Los Angeles. Pierce was a key offensive player for the Wizards in the playoffs as Pierce certainly proved his worth in the Toronto series. The loss of Pierce is a tough one to fill and Dudley certainly isn't going to fill that void. 

Biggest Strength

The backcourt play of the Wizards is as good as any pairing in the league as John Wall and Bradley Beal are a formidable duo. At this point the issue becomes resigning Beal and basically paying him more than Wall currently gets in his contract while still keeping them all happy in hopes of offering even more money to Durant this coming offseason. 

Biggest Weakness

The lack of bench depth was a glaring weakness last year for the Wizards as Beal and Pierce both got banged up in the postseason and there wasn't any kind of decent contingency plan in place to cope with that. The bench hasn't been strengthened much from last season and this will continue to hurt the Wizards deeper into the season. 

Bottom Line:

The Wizards will remain a playoff team here; however, they will be in a battle to get as high of a playoff seeding as they did last season. For the simple fact that the Miami Heat are going to be a whole lot better, this Southeast Division will become considerably more competitive. John Wall will have to stay healthy his year and Bradley Beal must continue to assert himself in the offense. From a development perspective Otto Porter will need to show some growth here for the Wizards and new draft pick Kelly Oubre will definitely be called upon to play some meaningful basketball this season, so he will need to be prepared for that reality. 

Fantasy Slant

Most Overrated

Nené

Hilario is such a crapshoot in terms of fantasy production. He is wildly inconsistent and can't be counted on for solid minutes on any given night. Too often Nene contributes nothing in terms of offense, disappears on the glass and is so prone to collecting fouls that he truly can't be counted on. Even as a discounted power forward option, albeit enticing at times, Nene doesn't provide any value at all, especially with a healthy Marcin Gortat in the lineup. 

Most Underrated

Bradley Beal

Beal really stepped up last year, particularly in the playoffs as he became the offensive focal point for the banged up Wizards. Beal is looking for a contract raise and wants to be paid like a max- salary player. He probably isn't deserving of such a salary right now; however, with the rising cap he would represent good value in a couple years. Last season Beal was consistently priced around the $6000 mark on FanDuel. I would expect Beal to open the season priced slightly higher than that but come season end Beal will likely be at tag $7500 mark. 

Biggest Surprise

Ramon Sessions

Sessions figures to open the season as the primary backup to Wall. In that role he should see about 20 minutes a night to start and probably more as the season progresses. Wall will need to be rested occasionally as a healthy Wall is needed for a playoff run. Sessions is a very capable backup who gives decent enough fantasy stats in that limited role. He shouldn't be looked at as an everyday option for PG2's but he will get spot starts and on those nights he brings good value to the table.