Corey Kispert's fourth season with the Washington Wizards came to an unfortunate end a few days ago. The Washington Wizards announced that the former Gonzaga forward will have surgery on his thumb, ending his 2024-25 season. It's a tough blow for the Wizards, who have played incredible basketball as of late.
Kispert's latest contract extension indicates that the Wizards have some interest in keeping the hot-shot forward around for their future. After a career year last season, we look back at Kispert's 2024-25 campaign and comment on notable changes in his play and stats from this season and last season.
Corey Kispert's 2024-25 Season in Review
Last season, Kispert emerged as a key figure in the Wizards' bench rotation. The former first-round pick saw an uptick in his scoring and efficiency despite playing 3.5 minutes less than the previous season. In 25.8 minutes played last season, Kispert averaged 13.4 points on 48.6% shooting from the field and an impressive 38.3% from deep.
That being said, there were two major concerns with Kispert: his defense was sub-par at best (122.8 DRTG last season), and his efficiency was held back by his turnover woes (10.2% turnover rate). Kispert was quickly making a name for himself as a shooting specialist, for better and for worse.
Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert (24) drives to the basket Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
With all of these in mind, Kispert's 2024-25 season was an unfortunate step down in most aspects. Despite little change to his minutes played, the Wizards forward's scoring took a dip. He averaged 11.6 points per game this season, and his efficiency considerably dropped. In particular, his field goal percentage (45.1%) and three-point shooting (36.4%) lowered by a bit.
A bigger concern is his shooting inside the three-point line. Kispert saw his two-point FG% nosedive from 64.3% to just 57.4%. He struggled with finishing inside the paint, shooting just 63.9% inside five feet compared to 73.1% last season.
On defense, Kispert still has most of the same issues as he had in the previous seasons. His rebounding is abysmal for a forward (three rebounds per game this season, a career-high). His lack of lateral quickness makes it tough for him to stay in front of many players. The Wizards forward finished this season with a 123.0 defensive rating and a -2.2 defensive box plus-minus, highlighting his struggles on that end.
There's enough reason to believe that Kispert's shooting will return to normal next season: his dip in shooting around the rim seems to be an anomaly compared to his first three seasons in the league. His free-throw shooting also shows that there's room for him to shoot better (85.2% from the line). That being said, unless the Wizards forward makes significant strides on defense, he will remain a slight liability in a league that demands two-way impact from role players at his position.
Related: Wizards Hit With Rough Injury News On Corey Kispert
Copyright 2025 Athlon Sports. All rights reserved.
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 11:30 PM.