Washington Wizards 2020-21: Who will make the cut next season?

The Bench Mob

Although this season has not been a great one for the Wizards, there has been an unexpected bright spot: the bench. After so many years of awful bench play the Wizards may have struck gold on a few players that can give you good minutes off the bench.

The most obvious up to this point has been Davis Bertans. Currently, in the middle of a career yeard, Bertans is shooting a blistering 44% from three and averaging career highs in almost every major category. He is due to be a free agent at the end of the season but it has been made very clear that the Wizards have every intention of bringing him back. A shooter of his status off the bench will be crucial and watching Bertans run the floor with John Wall will be crazy.

Another piece of the bench that has been a pleasant surprise is Mortiz Wagner. After coming over from LA in the Anthony Davis trade, Wagner has given the Wizards some great minutes as a backup big. A guy who can stretch the floor, shoot the three and protect the rim will always find himself on the court, and that’s exactly what Wagner has done thus far. Expect to see Wagner coming off the bench for years to come in DC.

A few other options off the bench for Washington include Jordan McRae who is having a breakout season and Isaac Bonga who has gotten into a nice rhythm over the past month. Another guy who is currently in a starting role but could see some bench minutes next year is Gary Payton II. Payton has shown he can be a very versatile defender and I would even go as far as to say he is the best defender on the team right now.

Last but not least you cannot forget about the MVP frontrunner (only half kidding), Ish Smith. Smith who will still be under contract next season, has thrived coming off the bench this season. He is the perfect guy to have behind John Wall and should be able to continue his uptempo style as the backup PG next season.

With an interesting mix of young players and veterans, the Washington Wizards could definitely come out and surprise some people next season. Although we are still only halfway through this season we have gotten a solid serving size of what the Wizards rotation might look like for the 2020-2021 season. With a few tweaks and fixes, Wizards fans should be excited to see what’s to come next season!