Washington Wizards: Four numbers from the preseason opener
By Ethan Smith
Nine
The number of three-point attempts by new power forward Davis Bertans.
The Washington Wizards got lucky when they acquired Davis Bertans from the San Antonio Spurs back in July. The 26-year-old power forward probably wouldn’t have been available if the Spurs didn’t think they were getting Marcus Morris. So they sent Bertans to DC, but things fell through with Morris, and now he’s in New York. Oh well, the Wizards made out fine.
What Bertans brings to Washington, above all else, is three-point shooting. That was on display during the preseason opener. Bertans had the greenest light on the court, shooting it whenever he had an inch of space behind the arc. He finished the night with a game-high nine three-point attempts. His three makes were also a game-high.
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Last season, the Wizards were a decent three-point shooting team, ranking towards the middle of the pack in attempts (12th) and makes (14th). Bertans should help bring those numbers up. Last year, Bradley Beal led the team with an average of 7.2 three-point attempts per game.
Bertans wasn’t the only big man to let it fly from outside, though. Moritz Wagner had seven attempts from three, himself, and Thomas Bryant added three more attempts from deep. Throughout training camp, the Wizards mentioned running a more modern style of offense that stretched the floor and got their bigs open looks from outside. They showed a preview of that last night.