NBA: New-look Wizards set to take on youthful Pacers

FILE PHOTO: Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal. Reuters/Andrew Boyers

After they both missed the playoffs last season and languished near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards will start the climb back to respectability when they meet Wednesday night in a 2022-23 season opener at Indianapolis.

Washington will begin its season looking to rebound from a disappointing 12th-place finish in the East a season ago. The Wizards opened the 2021-22 season 11-5 but went just 24-42 the rest of the way.

One of the Wizards’ offseason moves, made with the aim of returning to the postseason, was trading guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith to Denver for Monte Morris and Will Barton.

Morris posted career-best averages of 12.6 points and 4.4 assists per game a season ago while continuing to limit turnovers. He brings a more traditional point-guard presence for the Wizards to pair with standout scorer Bradley Beal in the backcourt.

A three-time All-Star, Beal finished second in the NBA in scoring at 31.3 points per game during the 2020-21 season but saw his average dip to 23.2 in 2021-22, while playing in just 40 games because of a wrist injury.

Beal’s 30 percent 3-point shooting last season was a career-low, and his 45.1 percent overall field-goal percentage marked his lowest since 2015-16, Beal’s fourth season in the league.

A return to form from the veteran Beal will be one of the keys to a Washington turnaround. The Wizards also will look to forward Kristaps Porzingis to build on a promising 17-game stretch late last season after his arrival in a trade from Dallas.

Porzingis averaged 22.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game upon joining the Washington lineup. The potential for production is less a concern around Porzingis than his ability to stay on the court.

Porzingis last played more than 57 games in a season in 2016-17, just his second year in the NBA. Concerns of a preseason ankle injury were assuaged for the opener, as NBC Sports Washington reported Monday that Porzingis was a full participant in practice.

Front-court Wizards mate Rui Hachimura also has struggled to stay in the lineup, logging 57 games or less in each of his first three NBA seasons. Hachimura appeared healthy in the Wizards’ preseason stretch in the forward’s native Japan, impressing Beal.

“Rui’s been spectacular all preseason and all summer,” Beal told reporters this week. “I think the work that he’s put in is starting to really show pretty often.”

Indiana welcomes Washington featuring a youthful lineup that has 12 players age 25 years of age or younger, including two-way players Kendall Brown and Trevelin Queen.

Rookie guards Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard logged the most minutes of any Pacer in Indiana’s preseason finale last Friday against Houston.

The final spot on Indiana’s youthful roster, however, went to 35-year-old James Johnson, who is entering his 14th season in the league.

“He’s seen a lot,” Buddy Hield said, according to Sports Illustrated’s All Pacers site. ‘He’s been on playoff teams, (and) he’s a perfect fit.’

Hield, meanwhile, came to Indiana in a trade last February that sent two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento. The Pacers also acquired Tyrese Haliburton in the swap.

Haliburton is poised to become the full-time starting point guard, filling the void left with Malcolm Brogdon’s offseason trade to Boston. Indiana added Daniel Theis and Aaron Nesmith, as well as a 2023 first-round draft pick, as part of the deal.

The Pacers’ recent roster changes almost included the addition of Deandre Ayton, offering the center a four-year, $133 million deal. The Phoenix Suns’ front office instead exercised its right to match the offer for a player who was integral to the team’s run to the 2021 NBA Finals.

Field Level Media