3 Burning questions about the Washington Wizards’ recent play

2. Corey Kispert … Defensive Anchor?

I don’t have any deeper explanation for this, only what the numbers say.

Kispert is currently the only bench player with a positive net rating, and he’s earning that differential on the defensive side. He currently ranks second on the team in defensive differential (minimum 100 minutes played) behind Kuzma, and the only individual clue I can find is that he’s adept at defending without fouling.

Now, this could be due to Beal’s recent absences and Kispert’s extended play with the starters. The lineup of Monte Morris, Kispert, Deni Avdija, Kuzma, and Kristaps Porzingis is the Wizards’ third-most used lineup (115 total possessions) and is less than one point per 100 possessions worse than the starting lineup with Beal.

In fact, Kispert is almost an inverse of Beal. When you substitute Kispert, the offense scores 20.1 fewer points per 100 possessions, yet the defense allows 19.3 fewer points from the opposition (Cleaning the Glass). The result? Almost a wash.

Individually, Kispert is -4.3 per 100 possessions on the offensive side and -6.5 defensively. For a player we expected to be a catch-and-shoot plug for this team, all of this was surprising to see.