3 Washington Wizards players who need a new role to succeed

Deni Avdija is the most egregious example of the Wizards misusing players.

Before he was selected ninth overall in the 2020 NBA draft, Deni Avdija played a Draymond Green type role with his team in Israel. Since joining the Washington Wizards, they have used in as a catch and shoot option in the corner.

Imagine if in 2016 the Warriors elected to have Draymond Green sit in the corner and wait for three-point opportunities. (This is the version of Green Avdija will be compared to since he is the superior shooter to the former All-Star.) It doesn’t make sense to play Green in that role, does it?

If it doesn’t make sense, then why is a player with a similar skillset put into those types of sets? Avdija is a talented playmaker and can put the ball on the court to drive to the bucket if need be. These are his great strengths outside of his elite defense. Sound familiar?

For an example of what his role should look like, let’s look at the most recent stretch of games where he has played incredibly well. He was shifted to play power forward off the bench and is playing a point-forward role.

In games where he plays like this, he is consistently putting up 15-20 points per game, grabbing rebounds, and making a positive impact on offense. However, in the past two games they moved away from this for whatever reason.

Against the Portland Trailblazers, he sat in the corner and chucked up threes or was forced to make a tough play at the rim from a play where he started at the three-point line. Against the Brooklyn Nets, they started out with him playing the point forward, but eventually moved away from the idea and had him sit in the corner and chuck up threes.

Moving Avdija to the point-forward style full time could see him grow into a taller and slightly more athletic version of Draymond Green. Not just the current version of the former Defensive Player of the Year, the version from 2016 where he shot 38.8% from three on limited attempts.

If the Washington Wizards are able to make these changes and revert these players back to their greatest strengths as players, they will greatly improve and should see a huge leap in the standings.