Hardwood Knocks

The Washington Wizards offseason was, somehow, simultaneously hectic and not-at-all busy. On the one hand, the roster doesn't look that much different, because it had no way of looking that much different. The Wizards entered the summer with no cap flexibility, so small-time additions like Tim Frazier, Jodie Meeks and Mike Scott were their ceiling. They did, however, match the Brooklyn Nets' max-contract trade-kicker special to Otto Porter—an inevitable move that is nevertheless important. See, the Wizards must largely bank on internal improvement to build upon last year's 49-win finish. They may be a tad deeper, but they were so reliant on their starting five of John Wall, Bradley Beal, Markieff Morris, Marcin Gortat and Porter that a little extra depth doesn't mean much, if anything. That quintet turned out to be among the most-used lineups of the freaking decade, logging nearly 1,347 minutes —nearly 500 more than any other unit last season. Getting spikes and leaps from younger incumbents is paramount if y