Wall matured quickly as a steward of the Wizards offense. Defensively, he evolved from a guard with great size and timing into a stout team defender capable of championing a system from within. Seasoning has brought restraint and that restraint a ticket to high-level stardom. Consider this a course correction.
Wall, who ranked second in the league in assists per game last season, might actually be underserved by traditional assist stats. His passes are creating the right kinds of shots; no player in the league created more layups and dunks for his teammates (4.2 per game) via assists last season than Wall, according to
NBA Miner, and only four players created more made three-pointers despite the Wizards ranking near the bottom of the league in total three-point attempts. The only player to register more secondary assists (passes leading to an assist) than Wall last season was Chris Paul, per
SportVU, and the only player to generate more free-throw assists (passes leading to free throws, a form of assist not included in the traditional made-basket formula) was Ricky Rubio. Wall’s teammates are leaving plenty of potential assists on the table, too, given his high ranking in assist opportunities on a team that played at a below-average pace.
From the perspective of pure playmaking, there may be none better. Plenty of Wall’s assists are relatively standard passes landed accurately with some zip behind them. To complement them, Wall defers to his creative muse—that voice in the back of his head that speaks to creativity in open defiance of fundamentals. The one-handed, cross-court pass that shouldn’t have a chance to hit its mark? Wall nails it. Those beautiful bounce passes in traffic that other guards wouldn’t dare to throw? Wall relishes the opportunity. Behind-the-back slices in close quarters, three-moves-ahead alley-oops, and precisions passes down the baseline with almost no margin for error? Wall pulls them all off as if they were the most normal thing in the world.
This is a special player—a virtuoso not yet at the height of his craft. And he has to be, frankly, to rank this high while scoring so inefficiently. Wall is done no favors by the basic construct of Washington’s offense. Even still, his shooting percentages read with a thud; of the 35 players to average 17 points per game or more last season,
only five posted a lower true shooting percentage than Wall. He suffers from a troubling trinity: ho-hum finishing efficiency, inconsistent midrange shooting, and dreary three-point marksmanship. Nowhere in Wall’s scoring game is there some compensatory strength. One might think that a player this quick would be able to better access his best spots on the court, though in Wall’s case that explosiveness hasn’t yet helped him to clean up his shot chart.
It may come in due time. Wall is touch and go on his pull-up jumper and floater, though either could be a hell of a change-up if they start falling enough to stick. Even one or two more reliable tools would give Wall something to riff off of—a plausible threat that opponents would need to respect and thus leave other scoring avenues unattended. As it stands, his freeform scoring attempts ebb and flow in their returns, generally falling to the less favorable end for the spectrum.
Wall has the complete game to make up for it. In addition to the raw passing ability and increasing sophistication with which he runs an offense, Wall now qualifies as an adept and purposeful defender. Opposing guards have a hell of a time sneaking anything past him. Wall casts his long arms into passing lanes and otherwise uses his length to remain a constant threat for steals and deflections. Every year, if not every month, sees Wall better grasp how to put that length to his advantage and maintain effective positioning. Some of that technique (the way he navigates around screens, his upright stance, etc.) is a work in progress. Wall has simply evolved to the point where he can grow forward while helping, guarding, and pressuring at a high level. – R.M.
2014-15: 17.6 PPG, 10.0 APG, 4.6 RPG, 44.5 FG%, 30 3P%
Advanced: 19.9 PER, Win Shares: 7.8, +4.30 RPM
