Wizards still a ‘work in progress,’ but expectations are heightened with Westbrook

Expectations are a fickle thing, threatening to box a team into a mold that one key injury can render moot. But Russell Westbrook’s addition to the Wizards — part of a trade that sent John Wall to Houston — has set expectations for Washington soaring.

That’s what happens when a player of Westbrook’s caliber joins a team. He’s a nine-time All-Star who was the 2016-17 league MVP and twice led the NBA in scoring.

So when Scott Brooks was asked Tuesday what the coach thought of his team’s expectations, he didn’t blink.

“Well, I mean, playoffs,” Brooks said. “We have a good team; we’ve added some good players. Russell’s ability to lead a team and get a team better, he has a track record of that.”

But with the Wizards opening the regular season Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, there won’t be instant perfection from a team full of new faces that have had minimal time to acclimate together.

Even with Bradley Beal and Westbrook headlining this season’s Washington squad, the team will still be a work-in-progress as the season begins. Just Tuesday morning, Brooks said he added three special situation plays to his team’s repertoire. They’d normally have more time to build chemistry, but this year is full of unique challenges.

So perhaps more than usual, the Wizards will lean on the duo of Westbrook and Beal, two experienced playmakers among a roster full of young — albeit promising — options.

“You just have to be patient and keep working and keep developing,” Brooks said. “We have two good leaders that can help the group come along even faster than a normal team would with potentially three young guys starting.”

When Washington traded for Westbrook, the team secured a player who’s averaged at least 21.8 points per game each year since 2010. In his lone season with the Rockets, the point guard produced 27.2 points and seven assists per game.

He offers Beal — coming off a season in which he scored 30.5 points a game — some major assistance. The onus won’t be on Beal to score in bunches every single night; instead, Westbrook and some of the other developing players, such as Davis Bertans and Thomas Bryant, can create a more balanced scoring attack.

But scoring isn’t this team’s problem. Rather, after allowing 119.1 points per game last year, Beal is hoping the unit can become a better two-way team. If the Wizards can improve on that end of the floor, they’ll have a better chance of meeting whatever expectations there are — although thinking about the playoffs when the regular season hasn’t begun is difficult.

“Everyone wants to get in, 15 teams want to get in,” Beal said. “It’s always tough to pinpoint what your expectations are; you don’t know how your year is going to go. It’s a crazy year we’ve had from the get-go already.”

Beal is now the longest-tenured Wizards player on the roster, but Westbrook comes with his own star power, acquired from his time with Oklahoma City and Houston. The former MVP has already developed a leadership role, too.

Brooks said the younger players listen to Westbrook because they know what he’s accomplished. But they also see the work he puts in daily, arriving early to the gym and staying late. That makes the feedback he offers even more valuable — he practices what he preaches.

As Wednesday’s season opener approaches, the Wizards will still be a team attempting to mesh. Westbrook played once during the three-game preseason slate, and forward Rui Hachimura will miss the first three weeks of the season with an eye injury.

But adding Westbrook this offseason created clear expectations heading into the new campaign, even if the squad isn’t a finished product yet.

“It is going to be a work in progress for everybody,” Westbrook said. “And as long as we all have the same goal in mind — that’s winning — that’s all that matters.”