Washington Wizards Lead NBA in Steals Through First Two Games of Preseason

The Washington Wizards look quite a bit different these days and it goes way beyond the fact that guard Bradley Beal is no longer hooping for the DMV’s favorite NBA franchise. 

Along with Beal, forward and center Kristaps Porzingis is out while forward Kyle Kuzma is back to be the new face of the Wizards starting in 2023. 

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Kuzma isn’t alone, however, as guard Jordan Poole has come over from the Golden State Warriors that involved sending future Hall of Famer Chris Paul to his former team by way of the Phoenix Suns where Beal is now playing. 

And don’t forget guard Tyus Jones who comes over from the Memphis Grizzlies to help usher in a new more efficient style of basketball.

The early returns have been positive, with Washington winning its first two preseason games on the NBA calendar so far, the first time this franchise has done so since 2017-18 according to the team. 

But they’re also doing something maybe we didn’t expect at this juncture, and are leading the NBA Preseason in average steals with 14.5 per game through the first two.

Leading the way for Washington so far is rookie forward Bilal Coulibaly who has averaged 3.5 steals per game with seven total. 

Those numbers rank Coulibaly first in the entire association thus far, and tie him for first in total steals with Dejounte Murray of the Atlanta Hawks and Naji Marshall of the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Hawks and Pelicans have both played three preseason games so far, to the Wizards’ two.

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Both Eugene Omoruyi and Delon Wright are also averaging 1.5 steals or more per game so far, joining Coulibaly in the possession stealing trend. 

Washington gets its next opportunity to flash a new defensive brand of basketball this Wednesday on the road to face the New York Knicks.