Delon Wright quickly proved indispensable in first season with Wizards

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Wright quickly proved indispensable in first Wizards season originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

WASHINGTON — In order to qualify for official rate statistic leaderboards in the NBA, you need to play at least 58 games (70%) over the course of an 82-game regular season. If it weren’t for that, Delon Wright’s 1.8 steals per game would rank second in the entire NBA.

Head coach Wes Unseld Jr. believes Wright’s games played total may have affected his chances at another distinction.

“You could argue, had he met the threshold, he would be in line for one of the All-Defensive teams,” he said.

That’s high praise and a callback to a discussion Wright and Unseld Jr. had the previous summer when Wright signed a free-agent deal to join the Wizards. They agreed that would be his goal for the season.

Though a hamstring injury suffered in late October affected those plans, Wright made an All-Defense level impact while he was available. The team had their lowest defensive rating when he was on the floor. In addition to the steals, Wright also would have been seventh in the NBA in deflections per game (3.2) if he had the games to qualify.

“There’s a presence and I think it helps the group, but it’s also something other teams are aware of. When he’s around and he’s on the floor, it’s disruptive to offenses,” Unseld Jr. said.

Wright played 50 games for the Wizards with the team going 26-24 when he was available. The Wizards were far worse (9-23) when he was out due to injury.

Now knowing how much he means to the Wizards, Wright is glad he chose them in free agency.

“[The injury] was kind of a blessing in disguise because when I got hurt I was trying to find a rhythm and then once I went out, kind of saw how the team needed me and the team kind of saw how they needed me,” he said.

Wright missed 29 games from late October to late December during a span of nearly two months with what was diagnosed as a Grade 2 hamstring strain. It was one of the more arduous rehabs he’s gone through in his eight-year NBA career.

Story continues

The fact he came back to play in 45 consecutive games without suffering a setback can be…

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Author : NBC Sports Washington

Publish date : 2023-04-27 21:25:00

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