Tristan Vukcevic has been the lone player on the Washington Wizards bench that had yet to be given the opportunity to prove how impactful he could be with an extended role.
On Friday night, fans may have finally found out exactly why head coach Brian Keefe has failed to roll the dice on the former second-round pick.
The Wizards held a prime opportunity to get their second NBA Cup win on the year against a struggle Indiana Pacers team to start the weekend.
However, in typical Washington Wizards fashion, the inconsistent young group in the DMV returned to their losing ways, falling to the Pacers 119-86 on the road.
In the loss, not many players outside of Alex Sarr performed well by any means, which is why Vukcevic's blown opportunity may not come back to bite him.
Nonetheless, for a player who's struggled to carve out a sizable role to start the year, increased minutes in a blowout loss could have been the perfect opportunity for the Serbian product to prove that he could make a difference given the chance.
Especially after a huge offseason where fans found a special sense of optimism in his potential after working with three-time MVP winner Nikola Jokic during FIBA EuroBasket play.
In 15 minutes on Friday, the versatile forward struggled to turn heads, finishing with five points, two assists and one rebound, while shooting 25% from the floor, including two missed from beyond the arc,
As mentioned above, majority of the team's roster underwhelmed in the team's lackluster road performance, but for Vukcevic, this was his chance to prove to Keefe and the rest of the team's coaching staff that he should have his number called on a nightly basis rather than when the team's in the midst of a blowout.
With the team's constant lineup changes over the last month of season, a breakout performance could have given the two-way player the opportunity to prove worthy of not only more minutes, but a standard contract.
Now, Vukcevic will have to wait for his next opportunity and hope to seize the moment when that chance comes back around.
Until then, the big man will have to wait his turn and use practice efforts to turn heads and hope that his next chance doesn't come attached to a change of scenery, especially with the uncertainty for the Wizards roster moving forward as the NBA trade deadline approaches.