The Wizards' Crystal Ball

by Wes Bowers

1. Give Avdija More On-Ball Reps 

Starting point guard Monte Morris (who went 3/3 from behind the arc on Sunday!) and backup/closer Delon Wright are great complementary pieces. Yet, their effectiveness as ball handlers is limited. They don’t possess the speed, handle, athleticism or scoring that a lot of guards do.

The 3rd year forward from Israel could provide an improved ability to get to the rim, make more advanced reads in a set due to his IQ, use his height and creativity, while also having an opportunity to display some of his improved shot creation. He needs a chance to demonstrate earlier on the shot-clock instead of the last five seconds he’s been getting.

2. It’s Time to Play Johnny Davis

The 10th pick of the 2022 draft has not played a single minute of Washington’s first three games of the regular season. I don’t blame head coach Wes Unseld, Jr. for not doing so as his play in the summer league and shooting 9.5% in four pre-season games was far from encouraging.

Now why do I think he should be getting some playing time? Well Anthony Gill is the 10th man in the rotation because sophomore Corey Kispert is out with an ankle sprain. Gill has struggled to say the least – missing wide open looks from three (which is what made him playable last season) and not being mobile or big enough to play the power forward or center position. Last year we saw a similar situation with Corey Kispert (a win-now 22 year- old first round pick who struggled in the summer league as well) but replaced a regressing Davis Bertans in the rotation after some games last season. As a prospect Davis was projected to be a good defender because of his motor/physicality and a good shot creator in the half-court. The shot creation hasn’t translated as of yet but the defense has been serviceable in what we’ve seen. This is a way he could stay on the floor to start his career.

Davis’ reputation is already in the mud amongst a majority of Wizards’ fans. It can’t get much worse so we might as well see what we have by watching what he does in an NBA game with genuine implications. I know Wizards fans are frustrated watching other lottery picks thrive off the bench, why not give Davis a chance to do so in an NBA game? His urgency and commitment could improve in an actual regular season game. If he’s not ready, like most people think, then it’s a low risk experiment with him taking up the 10th man minutes for a few games. If he shows the Johnny Davis who was the ‘Big 10 Player of the Year’ at Wisconsin then his confidence and role will grow. He’ll also have much less on-ball and scoring responsibilities as he will be coming off the bench with the likes of a (healthy) Will Barton and Rui Hachimura.

3. Efficiency! featuring Bradley Beal and 3 point shooting

Bradley Beal is shooting 61.7% from the field. The Wizards as a team are shooting 38.8% from 3. Their 28.3 attempts per game is the 4th lowest in the league . Are either of these shooting clips close to sustainable? Of course not. 

I’d like to note that with the additions and increased shooting talent of Morris, Barton, Wright and Porzingis that the team should take more shots from outside. From what I’ve seen so far is that teams are packing it in defensively and cutting off the roll game for bigs Porzingis, Gafford and even Hachimura.

Hopefully I am not overreacting to anything here.