Despite being just three games out of the 8th seed of the playoffs, the Washington Wizards continue to focus on the development of young players.
When asked about the possibility of the playoffs, Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks replied with less enthusiasm than some fans might expect.
"“Not really. I mean, it’s there. The eighth – the seventh, even – seed, if you’re below .500, it’s like – I don’t know. We gotta just focus on improving, getting better.”– Scott Brooks"
“We gotta focus on improving, getting better.” Hm.
So while some fans might clamor for a playoff berth for this young squad (and they wouldn’t be totally off the reservation to suggest it would be a good idea as I’ve written recently), there’s a hint here at a much more important longer term plan that the Washington Wizards are trying to execute, which is admirable.
While they’re sitting 13 games below .500, it’s hard to imagine they could still be so close to the 8th seed, but that’s exactly where they sit, folks. And the playoff potential isn’t going anywhere with the Orlando Magic going just 3-7 in their last 10 games.
The 8th seed is ripe for contention, the Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets also not far behind and plenty of the season to go. But as Brooks mentioned above, the playoffs are still a possibility, but certainly not the focus.
Or is it?
Does the coach’s actions match up with this statement? In looking at the box scores from the last five games before the all-star break, here’s the players that received the most minutes with their age in parentheses:
- Bradley Beal (26) – 180
- Davis Bertans (27) – 149
- Ish Smith (31) – 139
- Rui Hachimura (21) – 135
- Troy Brown Jr. (20) – 111
- Moritz Wagner (22) – 97
- Ian Mahinmi (33) – 96
- Isaac Bonga (20) – 85
- Admiral Schofield (22) – ZERO
The biggest takeaways from this distribution? The top three minutes-getters on the Washington Wizards are accounting for 39 percent of overall playing time on this “developing” DC squad, and their average age is 28.
The next three guys on the list, all guys we should be developing with an average age of 21 (7 years younger than the average of the top 3), are accounting for just 29 percent of overall playing time.
And why, for all things holy, is a developing team playing perhaps their best defensive player and biggest project in Admiral Schofield exactly zero minutes?? You’d have to think there’s at least a seven or eight minute stretch he could slot into easily.
It’s also criminal that Moe Wagner has only gotten one more minute than Ian Mahinmi. I understand injuries and recovery from injuries plays a role here, but come on.
The new guys, Jerome Robinson and Shabazz Napier, have only been with us for four games, but are averaging 18.3 and 19.5 minutes respectively. That would put 22-year-old Robinson below Mahinmi and 28-year-old Napier above Moe Wagner if we take their minutes per game above.
From where I’m sitting, it looks more like Scott Brooks and the Wizard front office are pulling the wool over our eyes. It looks to me like we’re playing to win at the detriment of developing our youth.
Still, it looks like Brooks is committed to playing rookie Rui big, meaningful minutes, and Troy Brown is probably getting the workload he can hope to shoulder next year, barring any big offseason moves. The same might be said of Wagner.
Development doesn’t just automatically happen by putting a player in a basketball game. It’s all about getting them the right minutes. Right spot, right time, right team composition around them.
And there’s a developmental period for the coaching staff and the would-be starters too. You want Bertans and Beal to build a rapport if they’re meant to help John Wall make another playoff push next year, for instance.
So perhaps the development is happening, as Scott Brooks is claiming, But only time will tell.