Atlanta Hawks Playoff Push: Who has best player, Magic, Hawks, or Wizards?

Hawks playoff push: Washington Wizards’ best player is Russell Westbrook

This one is really tough, and I just as easily could have selected Bradley Beal. You can really go either way.

Both Beal and Westbrook have either won or threatened for scoring titles. Both move the ball well and are good for 5-plus assists on any given night.

Looking at last season alone, Beal had a better year. Yes, Westbrook was an All-Star (Beal should have been) but Beal scored more and had a much more efficient showing throughout the season.

But this was Beal with nearly no other help on the roster last year. John Wall was out for the year and Beal had every right to hoist his nearly 23 shots per night. With Westbrook in the fold, Beal will have to take a more complementary role again for the sake of winning.

Depending on Westbrook’s progression or regression, he could very well surrender the title of the best player on the Wizards to Beal early on in the season, but my guess is his ability to take over an offense and score at-will won’t be a problem in the Eastern Conference.

Westbrook is extremely inefficient and has loads of trouble with shots from distance, but will find a way to get his buckets, even if they have to be at the rim.

Westbrook scored 27.2 points per game last year, and I’d expect him to push 25-plus with the Wizards.

Washington will be a good challenge for the Atlanta Hawks if they end up meeting in the play-in tournament. Their offensive weapons rival that of what the Hawks have and this matchup very well could come down to which team is willing to put more in on the defensive end?

Kris Dunn will have a lot of importance in this matchup if it comes to fruition. Russell Westbrook is 1a, and Beal 1b when it comes to who he and the Hawks need to be most concerned with.