After several years of rebuilding, the Washington Wizards are preparing to make a playoff push. No longer satisfied with developing their young talent and stockpiling lottery picks, Washington has made an effort to acquire veterans such as Nene, Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor in recent months so that the team can take the next step and compete for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. John Wall, who is dying to make his postseason debut, couldn’t be happier with the direction of the team. “You don’t want to keep living by the lottery,” Wall told HOOPSWORLD. “We’re trying to move forward, make the playoffs and change things around. I think they’ve made the right steps. I think we’ve made the jump. We added a low-post presence and veterans around a talented young team. Making the playoffs, that’s my goal. I’m not going to guarantee anything, but that’s my main goal. You never know how things are going to work out, but that’s the mindset that I have entering this season.” The Wizards played well after acquiring Nene at last year’s trade deadline and finished the season with a six-game winning streak. Wall raves about Nene and what he brought to the team. He believes that Ariza and Okafor will make a similar impact in Washington. “He made my job a lot easier,” Wall said of Nene. “Having a low-post presence, with the type of team that we have, we needed someone who could score down there. He helped out a lot and made my job easier. I’d pass the ball down there and know we were going to consistently get baskets or have him pass out and get assists.” “I think [Ariza and Okafor] help us a lot too, adding a lock-down defender who can make shots and a veteran big man who knows the game,” Wall said. “They’ve been in the playoffs before and they can really help us out.” Read more: http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-pm-wa...s-2&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
