Washington Wizards need to start winnning, or risk losing Davis Bertans

The Washington Wizards have said they want to re-sign Davis Bertans this summer. But will he re-sign with the Wiz if we don’t win?

There’s a lot of love between the Washington Wizards brass and Latvian basketball star Davis Bertans. And there’s a lot to love between the 27-year-old’s career 41 percent shooting from beyond the arc and 15 points per game, and the Wizards’ seeming willingness to pay the man whatever he requests this summer.

A power forward that shoots at that clip, often far beyond the three-point line, and his professional and kind demeanor make him an appealing option for a Washington Wizards franchise that has found itself in drama-fueled turmoil too often. The interest going that way is clear to see.

I mean, just go back and watch this game and you’ll start salivating just like the Washington Wizards organization about the potential of pairing Bertans with John Wall:

But does the interest go the other way?

We’ve written before that Davis Bertans loves it in D.C. He loves the adoration of his fans, his teammates, and maybe even the coaching staff. Look at the boyish way he gushes here when asked:

But that was 21 days ago, on the eve of the NBA All-Star Weekend’s Three-Point Shootout, and most importantly with the Wizards playing decent basketball being 2-1 in their previous three games. That all may have drastically changed now with the Wiz dropping three straight coming out of the break and slipping further from playoff contention.

According to this article from December, Davis Bertan’s own agent Arturs Kalnitis has said that “winning is important” to Davis Bertans. And a large part of that probably has to do with the Latvian Laser’s championship pedigree.

He played for the San Antonio Spurs, obviously, before being traded to the Washington Wizards, and his time with Gregg Popovich. In his time with the five-time NBA champion coach, he often received glowing reviews like this:

Bertans was clearly one of Pop’s favorites, and he was so because he was a winner. No other reason.

Winning is just part of what Bertans does in the game of basketball though, even before his time with the Spurs. As a three-time Serbian league champion, a Serbian Cup winner, and an Adriatic League championship, winning is something to which sharpshooting Davis Bertans has become accustomed.

The Washington Wizards need to take the remainder of this season to prove to Bertans that winning is important to them too, and they’ll need to do it by showing the growth of their young core. And by snagging a few key victories here and there as well.