Washington Wizards: 3 Goals for Isaac Bonga next season
By Ethan Smith
Isaac Bonga showed a ton of progress in his first season with the Washington Wizards. A few improvements this offseason will help him cement his role with the team.
Let’s be honest. Although Isaac Bonga was entering his second NBA season when he joined the Washington Wizards, he was essentially a rookie during the 2019-20 season. After bouncing between the G-League and the end of the Los Angeles Lakers’ bench, Bonga logged only 120 minutes in 22 games as a rookie.
When Tommy Sheppard brought Bonga to D.C., he was raw. And that’s putting it lightly. But the team’s developmental mindset was perfect for Bonga as he and the coaching staff tried to figure out where he fit best.
Eventually, they settled on 3&D wing, and it seems to be fitting Bonga pretty well. On a team devoid of defensive stoppers, Bonga became the guy the Wizards leaned on when trying to get a stop or slow down a star. And while he won’t be appearing in any three-point contests any time soon, Bonga showed he can be proficient from the outside. For the season, he shot 35 percent from three.
Bonga already has two NBA seasons under his belt and he doesn’t turn 21 years old until November. There’s reason to believe we haven’t seen the best of Bonga, yet. When given some room to grow, Bonga got demonstrably better across the board. After one season, it looks like Sheppard did the right thing by taking a flyer on Bonga.