Washington Wizards: 3 Role Players that will be key for play-in tournament hopes

Washington Wizards that are key to a play-in birth: Davis Bertans

Congrats to Davis Bertans and his family on the birth of their baby boy!

Bertans has been out the last two games for personal reasons but he was starting to come on as of late. Post-All-Star break, the Latvian Laser is shooting 45.8 percent from beyond the arc on 6.9 attempts per game. That’s a lot better than the first half of the year when he was only shooting 38.4% from three on 7.6 attempts per game. The Wizards need Bertan’s hot shooting to continue as they fight to move up the standings.

Washington is 9-5 when Bertans makes four or more threes so it’s clear that they’re a much better team when he’s knocking it down from deep. Now, he just has to stay healthy. In March, Bertans sat out eight games as he recovered from a right calf strain. Even though he’s inching closer to 100 percent, the Wizards still need to be careful not to overextend him. Unfortunately, due to unfortunate circumstances, Bertans will most likely see an increase in minutes as soon as he returns to the lineup.

Rui Hachimura exited Saturday’s matchup against the  Detroit Pistons with knee soreness and there’s no timetable for his return yet. With Rui out, Bertans seems like the most logical replacement at the forward position. Bertans has to be ready to step in and fill the void left by the Wizards third-leading scorer because he can put up points in bunches when he gets it going. As long as the coaching staff is smart with how they relegate his minutes, then I see no reason why the Latvian Laser can’t hold it down for the meantime. Shooters shoot. And that’s exactly what the Wizards need him to do if they have any hope of clinching a spot in the play-in!