Amid Slow Start, Washington Wizards Need More Bench Production

When the Wizards entered this season, they felt eager to showcase their depth.

On paper, you could see why they had such high hopes for their bench. Eleven games into the season, the bench hasn’t proven to be as effective as many had thought, and it has directly taken them out of some games.

Monday’s loss to Detroit encapsulated the issue. A 44-point explosion from Anthony Davis wasn’t even close to enough for the Wizards to keep pace with a good Pistons squad.

The Wizards’ bench got outscored 29-10, and the Wizards lost the game by 11. What’s worse for Washington is that most of those bench points came in garbage time. It entered the game’s final quarter with just one point from the reserves.

Washington’s bench shot just 23.5% from the field and 10% from three against Detroit.

Overall, Washington’s bench averages 25 points per night, but that number has dipped to 18.4 over the last five contests.

What’s the reason the production has tailed off?

A big issue for Washington is that Tre Johnson has struggled mightily as of late. Outside of a 23-point performance against the Hawks on Friday, his shooting has been in a funk. He’s shooting 35% from the field and a dreadful 24.5% from three.

In his last two games, he’s gone three-for-23 from the field and has missed his last 13 three-point attempts.

Washington brings him off the bench with the hope that he provides a scoring spark, but that hasn’t happened much this season. Johnson is likely due for some positive regression, but his inability to affect the game without shooting has become a concern.

It can’t be ignored how massive the loss of Justin Champagnie to a fractured right foot is. Before his injury on October 26, his rebounding and defense off the bench created a massive positive impact on the floor. Since his injury, which will sideline him until February, the Wizards have struggled to fill that void.

The Wizards turned to veteran Khris Middleton to play those minutes, but he rapidly fell out of the rotation. Against Cleveland on October 28, he played 23 minutes. The next night against Charlotte, just five. He hasn’t checked into a game since.

Washington has recently given second-year forward Will Riley more run, but he hasn’t found his footing as a prominent scoring option at this point.

Bub Carrington’s minutes off the bench have typically been solid ones. His ball pressure and competitiveness on defense have helped. He has also been one of the team’s most consistent three-point shooters. The scoring hasn’t been consistent, though. He averages just 5.5 points per game and has only hit double figures in one game.

The problem for the Wizards isn’t a massive bench-scoring disparity every single night, but the lack of offense from the unit is something to keep an eye on.

As the Wizards prepare to play a back-to-back against the Pacers, then the Pistons once again, they’ll need their bench to take some of the weight off their starting unit.