Washington Wizards: Is starting Tomas Satoransky the right move?

Scott Brooks made a recent change to the starting lineup by adding Tomas Satoransky in and moving Kelly Oubre Jr. back to the bench. Was this the right move?

The Washington Wizards and Scott Brooks decided to shake things up once again. The team was off to a hot streak once he inserted Kelly Oubre Jr. into the starting unit for Markieff Morris. In their first four games they were 3-1.

Since then they have gone 4-3. Not bad, but not great. On top of this, the team looks like it needs another spark, which is concerning in itself. Morris has been performing much better coming off the bench and Oubre did as well when he was in a reserve role.

Oubre, most certainly earned an opportunity to start, but performed significantly better coming off the pine. John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter assume most of the shots for the starters, which didn’t allow for Oubre to get involved. Moving back to the bench allows Oubre to play his game better and that should benefit the team more as well.

As for starting Tomas Satoransky, why not?

Arguably, the team can’t get any worse at this point in meeting expectations so trying something different is encouraged. Satoransky is a smart, suitable player that can fit into multiple roles. He doesn’t provide much on the offensive side of things, but can help facilitate and control the game, which Wall lacks at times.

Last season, when Wall was out  with an injury, Satoransky filled the void phenomenally. Of course he’s not going to put up Wall type numbers, but his style of play doesn’t fill the stat sheet. Making the extra pass and organizing the offense goes along way and this is what he was able to do last season in his 30 starts. During that time he averaged 7.2 points and 3.9 assists.

Recently, he started against the Brooklyn Nets. Playing 26 minutes, Satoransky scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting and had 3 assists. Standing 6’7″, he’s able to guard multiple positions and that’s an area where the Wizards could desperately benefit from.

In addition, the Satoransky is a very unselfish player. This fits in perfectly with Wall and Beal since they need the ball in their hands for the majority of the game.

Satoransky is the ultimate role player. First and foremost he looks to get his teammates involved. Second, he has a very high basketball IQ. The turnover ratio for his career is less than one at 0.9. His talents and skillset was being underutilized in a reserve role.

With Dwight Howard out, for most likely the rest of the season, his minutes needed to be distributed. Ian Mahinmi and Jason Smith haven’t earned playing time. In turn, Brooks made the right call in giving those minutes to Satoransky, since he’s been productive during his time on the court.

The coaching staff and team can most certainly trust Satoransky to make the right play on the floor. At this point in the season, switching things up once again could be what the team needs to obtain another spark.

For now, it was the right move inserting him into the starting lineup. Washington beat the Nets Saturday evening and now head to New York to take on the Knicks. Hopefully they can go 2-0 with the lineup change.