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John Wall says Washington Wizards need roster changes this offseason

It was a weird season for the Wizards. They had the goods to be among the top four teams in the East, but found themselves fighting for a playoff spot when the calendar flipped to April. John Wall missed a chunk of the season and strangely enough, Washington played reasonably well without him.

And then in the first round, Washington forced the top-seeded Raptors to six games before bowing out.

Back and forth, up and down. The Wizards never developed a firm identity or cohesion. And that’s why Wall believes the team needs to undergo some changes, maybe even major changes, before the next season.

Can Wall coexist with Bradley Beal? That All-Star backcourt still hasn’t produced big returns, although not necessarily to their own fault, but if the right deal comes along, it wouldn’t be surprising if Washington did something bold. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN adds the following about Washington and Wall and the future:

While saying that the team’s current core has shown the ability to beat anyone, Wall said there are obvious needs that have to be addressed in certain areas of the roster.

“It’s a lot,” Wall told reporters when asked what the Wizards need to address on the roster. “I feel like it’s a lot we can use. I don’t really have to say [which] certain positions. People who have been around our team understand what we can use to help our team. And it is not throwing shade to anybody on our team because everybody that is on the roster gave everything they had to make it work and fit with the team.

“But at the same time, sometimes when it is not working, you try, you try, you try, and it keeps failing over and over, you have to make certain adjustments and changes.”

Despite entering the season with high expectations following a Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals last season, the Wizards were hit by injuries and inconsistency, as they didn’t have Wall for 41 games — 28 straight coming after he had knee surgery that kept him out for two months — and finished a disappointing eighth in the Eastern Conference.

With Wall back in the lineup, the Wizards lost in six games to the top-seeded Toronto Raptors, marking the first time that the All-Star backcourt of Wall and Bradley Beal failed to make it to the second round in four postseason appearances.

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