NBA DFS bubble preview: Washington Wizards

It’s been quite a—boring—ride but we’re almost there, folks. Starting July 30, the NBA will enter a vortex of daily action that will get us back to our couches to indulge as much basketball as we can with games coming left and right. With such a short time between now and the restart (and with the four months we have endured without any NBA hoops around) it makes sense to go through the 22 teams that made it to Disney’s bubble to review what they did during the first months of the 2019-20 season and what we can expect from them going forward. Consider this a primer on who to target, who to avoid, and a know-it-all reviewing exercise of what will be there when NBA DFS contests come back in less than 14 days time.

As has always been the case, I will be using data from both the official NBA website paired with information from DFS contests held on DraftKings through the first months of the season. Every chart uses the same scale (salaries from 3K to 10K except when they don’t fit, fantasy points from 0 to 65) so they can be easily compared between teams to see where each player ranks league-wide.

Regular Season Stats

• Record: 24-40 (.375)
• Offensive Rating: 111.9 (8th)
• Defensive Rating: 115.8 (30th)
• Net Rating: -3.9 (24th)

I don’t even should be writing about the Wizards... but here we’re are. Washington is 24-40, would need to go something like 9-0 in an eight-game schedule to make it to the postseason, and that is assuming all of the other teams lose their games (as if both teams playing in a game could lose the match), and they’ll need to accomplish all that without having Bradley Beal, Davis Bertans, and John Wall in Orlando. LOL.

See, the Wizards making it to the bubble is a mirage. It only happened because the NBA had to somehow put Zion Williamson in the fight for the postseason, decided to include every team with at least a .400 winning percentage, realized no team from the east would make the cut, and then just “whatevered” it and threw the Wizards in just to give someone a chance. The Wizards could have easily stayed in D.C. and no one would have complained. At least we’ll get to watch some warm bodies moving around a hardwood floor, I guess.

Team Leaders (per game):

• MIN: Rui Hachimura (29.7)
• PTS: Rui Hachimura (13.4)
• 3PM: Shabazz Napier (1.4)
• REB: Thomas Bryant (6.8)
• AST: Ish Smith (4.8)
• STL: Shabazz Napier (1.3)
• BLK: Ian Mahinmi (1.2)
• TOV: Shabazz Napier (2.2)
• USG%: Shabazz Napier (19.2%)
• DKFP: Thomas Bryant (25.9)

Fantasy Profile

• Players Acquired: Jerian Grant
• Players Lost: Bradley Beal, Davis Bertans, John Wall

The Wizards are the worst defensive team of the freaking season. Their 12th offensive rating isn’t bad, but mostly came down to Bradley Beal scoring in bunches and Davis Bertans hitting triples like there was no tomorrow. If you have not read the intro, nor the list of players lost above, let me tell you none of those two are part of Washington’s bubble squad.

Outside of those two players, the Wizards’ best remaining options are a mixture of Thomas Bryant, Rui Hachimura, Ish Smith, and Shabazz Napier. That doesn’t sound, nor actually is, any good. Napier is the best among Wizards in ROI (Price/DKFP) most probably because Washington has been so irrelevant out of Beal and Bertans that the algorithm didn’t even bother properly pricing him this season. I guess if you’re desperate enough to put a Wiz in your lineup then it’d be Napier. I mean, someone will need to be out there, am I right?

I personally want to watch Rui Hachimura and Thomas Bryant on larger roles through the remainder of the regular season, and they will be forced into them whether they want them or not because Washington needs to play someone. That being said, both of them would need to improve their production levels a lot if they want to become even average values in DFS contests. Skip Washington altogether, for the love of God.