Mike Scott needs to prove himself to earn opportunities with Washington Wizards

As the Washington Wizards made rather low key signings during the free agency period, Mike Scott looks to prove himself after joining the roster.

The Washington Wizards and Mike Scott reached an agreement early in July to a one-year contract at the veteran minimum. For that $1.7 million price, the Wizards are hoping for a healthy and productive Scott. Lately, he has been closer to the latter than the former.

Lets look at what the Wizards have ahead of them as far as what they should seek in forward Mike Scott.

Scott was selected by the Atlanta Hawks during the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft as the 43rd overall pick. He has since spent all five seasons in Atlanta playing making an appearance in 281 games in total. When looking at his performance even back to college, its tough to say he will ever become more than a role player.

A flaw that must not be overlooked is how he handles the rock. Per Basketball-Reference, he reached 124 assists and an eye-popping 211 turnovers in total through his college career. That’s nearly a 1:2 ratio and what’s worse is this has translated to his NBA career.

To date over Scott’s five seasons, he averages 0.9 assists per game and 0.7 turnovers per game. His per 36 minutes make this even more clear — 1.0 assists to 1.2 turnovers.

How can Mike Scott help?

Without getting stuck in the nitty gritty with how he seems unable to move the ball around the court, he does show the ability to score if he’s healthy. However, that’s a large “if,” though the Wizards are willing to take the risk.

Scott is coming off of career lows across the board for the 2016-17 regular season. There is little evidence from his straight up per game stats that shows much promise. He averaged 2.8 points in 10.8 minutes per game over only 18 appearances.

Mike Scott’s lone strength on the court is his shot beyond the arc. However, even this strength will need improvement for him to earn minutes. His long range jumper dropped from a solid 39.2 percent during 2015-16 all the way down to a bone chilling 14.8 percent during the 2016-17 season.

It should be mentioned, however, that the Washington Wizards had limited cap space to work with to improve their bench rotation. It seems the front office’s main plan all along was simply to allow Porter to find his value on the market. As of yesterday’s withdrawal of their qualifying offer for Bojan Bogdonovic, it appears the Wizards are inching closer to locking in a deal with Otto Porter Jr.

What this all boils down to is Scott is simply a hopeful three-point threat coming off the bench to relieve Porter.

Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far

Mike Scott will have to prove himself during training camp for future opportunities and will hope to return to his healthy and productive form for the 2017-18 regular season.