September 26, 2017

All-Time Franchise Leader Check


Last September I wrote a post on this blog detailing where John Wall stood on the all-time franchise leaders list and making the case that by mid-season last year, John would be number one on the franchise leader board in assists and steals. He got that easily and now stands atop those two categories where he'll stay for I assume a long long time.

I thought this year I'd do an update to where John stood after last year in the same seven categories I looked at last year (games played, minutes played, points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals).But after looking at our franchise leaderboards, I've decided to not do that. Instead, I've taken a look at where our current roster stands in each of these seven categories and where our current team is likely to be at the end of this season as they continue to make their mark on the team's history.

Games Played
Franchise Leader: Wes Unseld (984)
Current Wizards in Top 10: None
Of all the Wizards on the current roster, John Wall is the only one who will crack the top 10 in terms of games played this year and he should make a serious move on this all time list. Right now Kevin Grevey sits in the 10 spot at 530 games. John has 500 under his belt and played in 78 last year. If he plays the same number of games again this year, he'll sit in 7th place, one game behind Brendan Haywood and 18 games ahead of Gus Johnson (who's number is retired; just saying). If he somehow plays 80 or more, he'll be in 6th place with Kevin Loughery up next at 591. From there he's probably one more season away from third place behind just Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld.

Minutes Played
Franchise Leader: Wes Unseld (35,832)
Current Wizards in Top 10: John Wall (7th; 18,031)
At the beginning of the 2016-2017 NBA season, John Wall placed 10th on the minutes played list. After last season, he's at 7th and poised to make a big jump after logging 2,836 minutes last year. If he does the same thing this season, he'll pass Gus Johnson (who's number is retired; just saying) and move into the number three position. After that, he's got several more seasons to catch Elvin Hayes at 29,318 minutes.

No other Wizard is going to crack the top 10 list in this category this year.

Points
Franchise Leader: Elvin Hayes (15,551)
Current Wizards in Top 10: John Wall (7th; 9,419)
In addition to hitting the seven spot on the top 10 minutes played list after last season, John Wall also hit number seven on the points scored list, after scoring 1,805 of them in 2016-2017. If he does that again, he'll find himself tied exactly with Wes Unseld for third place with 10,624 points. That will be almost 800 points clear of Kevin Loughery who currently sits right behind Wes. So given a reasonable push this year, John could find himself at number one in two categories on this list and third in two more. Not bad for a guy who's under contract through 2023 who wants to see his jersey in the rafters one day.

For those of you wondering about Bradley Beal on this list, remember he's two full seasons behind Wall. Unless he averages more than 36 per game this year and plays in all 82, Brad's not hitting this list this year.

Rebounds
Franchise Leader: Wes Unseld (13,769)
Current Wizards in Top 10: Marcin Gortat (10th; 3,074)
Last year I offered the opinion that it would take John Wall three more seasons to have a shot at the top 10 list in rebounding. I'm backing up my statement this year. However, Marcin Gortat's managed to sneak into the number 10 spot after last year's performance. Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, Gortat's an awfully consistent rebounder. Last season he finished 11th in the NBA at greater than 10 rebounds per game while also playing a full 82 game schedule. Karl-Anthony Towns was the only other player to do that (although admittedly there were several more who played 81 games).

So how does Marcin project this year? Well, if he puts up a similar number to last year's 849, he'll likely pass Antawn Jamison and move into sixth. Even if he logs more than 100 fewer, he'll still be in sixth by season's end. Seems like Marcin just got to D.C. even though that's not true. Don't sleep on Gortat, folks.


Assists
Franchise Leader: John Wall (4,610)
Current Wizards in Top 10: Just John Wall
What's to say here? John Wall is clear of number two by about 800 assists. This gap is only going to get bigger. No other Wizard is cracking the top 10 this year.

For Beal fans: unless he has an exceptional couple of years, he's three years away from cracking the top 10. Not saying it won't happen next season (meaning 2018-2019) but it's a real long shot.

Blocks
Franchise Leader: Elvin Hayes (1,558)
Current Wizards in Top 10: Marcin Gortat (10th; 388)
It's been a good few years for Marcin Gortat as a Wizard. Not only did he make it into tenth place on the all-time rebounds list, he managed to land in the same spot on the blocks list. That after recording just 61 last year. If he does the same thing this season, he'll be in eighth ahead of Gheorghe Muresan and about 20 behind JaVale McGee (ugh!). Go get 'em Marcin.

If Gortat was no longer a Wizard, John Wall would have a shot at the top 10 list after this season. He's at 322 for his career right now and in his best year he blocked 59 shots. That would approach Marcin's 388 but that number's going to go up also. He'd need 85 to catch Etan Thomas who will slide to 10th once Marcin picks up 20 more swats. Maybe 2018-2019.


Steals
Franchise Leader: John Wall (870)
Current Wizards in Top 10: Just John Wall
John is the franchise leader over Greg Ballard by over 100. He'll be the franchise leader for years and years to come for sure. No other Wizard is cracking the top 10 this year.

For Beal fans: he'll be close to the top 10 after this season assuming similar numbers to last year but not close enough. Give it this season and next, please.

That's the rundown this year. This current group of Wizards players has the opportunity to make a real dent in the franchise record books but after this year, don't expect to see anyone but Wall and Gortat in the top 10 of these categories. The two years after that will get really interesting if this bunch manages to succeed enough for the front office to keep them together.

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