After spending most of his rookie year in the G League playing for the Capital City Go-Go, there was an expectation for Johnny Davis to step into a rotation role this season. Yet, a year after being the no. 10 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Davis is still not an integral part of the Washington Wizards, and that is deeply concerning.
Johnny Davis has received Did Not Play- Coach’s Decision for the last three games. The last game he played was a brief, 3-minute appearance against the Charlotte Hornets last week. In fact, through ten games this season, he almost exclusively only played in the garbage time, averaging 11.2 minutes per game in 5 appearances.
It made sense for Davis to not be in the rotation last season as the Wizards were trying to be a competitive playoff team. He started getting minutes once Washington decided to tank at the end of the season. Yet, this season, the Wizards are not only rebuilding around young players, but they are also one of the worst teams in the NBA.
The fact that a lottery pick from last year’s draft can’t get on the court for possibly the worst team in the league is alarming.
Davis receiving consecutive DNP-CDs is especially alarming considering the fact that Delon Wright is out indefinitely with a knee injury. One would rightfully think that Davis would be a direct replacement for the defense-first combo guard role Wright usually provides. Instead, Davis has seemingly lost his job in the rotation.
To put the absurdity of the situation into perspective, it’s worth taking a look at other picks in the same draft.
Every other player selected in the top 17 of the 2022 NBA Draft is currently part of a rotation, and most of them are on much better teams than the Wizards. Davis is the only pick in the top 17 to not get consistent minutes for his team.
Since we haven’t seen him very often this season, it’s hard to advocate for Davis to play more minutes. Yet it’s clear that if he was ready to contribute, coach Wes Unseld Jr. would certainly use him considering how desperate the Wizards are for perimeter defense.
Davis is still yet to turn 22. Some players take longer to find their footing in the NBA. However, it’s hard to see how he is going to get his NBA career going if he can’t even get on the court for this Wizards team. It unfortunately seems more likely than not that the Wizards have squandered another lottery pick.
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