Wizards star Bradley Beal has been injured for almost two months with a wrist injury. And unfortunately for Washington, the team’s playoff hopes gradually diminished during that time without their best players.
However, Beal’s injury allowed head coach Wes Unseld Jr. to give the younger players of the Wizards more minutes as the franchise focused on player development for the rest of the season.
On Monday, Beal joined NBC Sports Washington Wizards Postgame Live and said he liked what he saw from the young pieces of the franchise, especially Corey Kispert, Deni Avdija and Rui Hachimura – Washington’s last three picks of the first round.
“I’m very impressed with the three,” Beal said.
Beal spoke at length about praising each of the three players. He started with Kispert, who selected the Wizards 15th overall last offseason, and spoke highly of the way the Gonzaga product arrived in Washington.
“Corey came as a very mature rookie. He was not the average young guy, deer and headliner as a rookie,” Beal said. “He came in ready to go. He came to know the game, to understand the feeling and the flow and what we wanted and needed for him to do.”
At the start of the season, Kispert stood at the end of Washington’s depth chart. During the first month and a half of the season, the rookie averaged less than 10 minutes per contest.
However, Kispert has the confidence of Unseld Jr. He increased his scoring average every month. In March, Kispert averaged 12.0 points per game and reached double numbers in six of Washington’s last seven games.
“He understands that his job is to shoot the ball. When it touches your hands, Corey, you shoot the basketball. That’s what we want you to do,” Beal said. “We want you to keep playing, keep being aggressive and keep pushing yourself to the defensive end. He tries. He goes out and runs. He competes at a high level. I like everything he does.”
Beal then moved on to Avdija, Washington’s first round in 2020, which he applauded for his versatility and willingness to try new things every time he hit the ground running.
“Deni is getting better all the time. It’s so hard because Deni is versatile,” Beal said. “We try to put him on the 3rd, the 4th, sometimes we put him on the 1st. We move Deni everywhere. I like the fact that he’s open.”
Even though Avdija’s role was constantly changing throughout the season – he was also in rotation at times – Beal was impressed with the openness of the second year winger to do whatever he asked.
“He does not sit there and say ‘I can not do this or’ I can not do that. ‘ He does not sit in a box, “said Beal.” He is a willing student. He asks a million questions and accepts these challenges. I always consider him one of our better defenders. He is very big, he has a big size and he uses them … The future is super bright for him. “
To finish off the segment, Beal moved to Hachimura, a third-year pro who played Washington’s Star Shooting Guard alongside most of the three players. Beal said he was most impressed with Hachimura’s growth of the three young players, especially considering the long mental health absence he has had to start the season.
“I would say I was most impressed [Rui] out of all three with you [number] of players he missed to get back to the impact he had, “Beal said.” He came in and he did not really lose a step.
One specific area Hachimura has significantly improved on this season was his three-point shot. After shooting 28.7% as a rookie and 32.8% last year behind the arc, Hachimura hit 3-pointers on a 48.7% clip this season at 2.5 attempts per game.
This drastic improvement particularly impressed Beal, who says he constantly has to tell his team-mate to shoot the ball more.
“He shoots the lights out of the ball. He shoots at a very high clip,” Beal said. “We tell him he needs to be more aggressive and shoot more. But it was just so impressive to continue to develop his game, to continue to see his confidence continue to grow.”
Even though Beal is impressed with each of Washington’s young wingers, he admitted on Monday that there are still other areas on the list that he believes the team needs to improve in order to move forward to be a candidate. ginn.
Nevertheless, Beal liked what he saw from the young core of the Wizards. For Kispert, Avdija, and Hachimura, playing well during the home stretch of the 2021-22 season could be a big factor in Beal’s decision on whether to commit to the Wizards long-term again this summer.
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