AJ Dybantsa is finally slated to play in his first game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which will help the problem a little bit, but nevertheless, the Washington Wizards' bench needs to perform a lot better. Sitting at 2-2, the Wizards have played competitive basketball, but the vast majority of their production has come from their starting lineup.
Both Anthony Davis and Trae Young have been All-Star-caliber to start the season. Kyshawn George has been an extremely solid third option, but that's been about it. Most of the bench hasn't found consistent footing, and it's putting too much pressure on the starters.
Tre Johnson has had moments, but he needs others on the bench to step up. Deandre Ayton, Khris Middleton, and Bub Carrington need to show more consistency. Otherwise, the Wizards may have to play other guys or consider trades. AJ Dybantsa is finally slated to play in his first game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which will help, but it falls short of solving this problem.
The Wizards' depth has been subpar to start the season
Coming into the season, their depth was seen as one of their strong suits, but that's been far from the case. Ayton, while shooting an impressive 71.4 percent from the field, hasn't been assertive on offense during times when he needs to be. He's only averaging 5.3 points and 4.8 rebounds this season.
The Wizards signed Middleton to a three-year contract in hopes that he can provide valuable leadership along with solid scoring. Regardless of injuries and age, he's been a walking bucket his entire career. However, this season, it looks like he might be in a steep decline.
Middleton is only averaging 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds off the bench this season. He's shooting 33.3 percent from the field and has yet to make a three-pointer. He'll likely get a semi-long leash to turn it around, but if this trend continues, he can't continue playing valuable minutes.
Lastly, there's Carrington. He's been extremely impressive from three so far, shooting 47.1 percent on 4.1 attempts per game, but his inside-the-arc struggles continue to put a cap on his offense. It doesn’t take a basketball genius to see how bad a percentage is when a player shoots 47.1 percent from three but sits at 39.1 percent from the field.
Most of Carrington's work has been off-ball, and they need some more on-ball juice in their bench unit. Trying out Tre Mann to see if he can produce could be an avenue the Wizards experiment with, and with Dybantsa returning, that pushes Bilal Coulibaly back to the bench. Regardless, the Wizards want to make the playoffs this season, and that won't happen without more reserve production.
Add us as a preferred source on Google