Washington Wizards: 3 takeaways from the first month of the season

1. Bench woes continue

The Washington Wizards’ biggest issue last season was the bench and this season it’s been no different. The Wizards acquired Brandon Jennings and Bojan Bogdanovic late last season to help improve things but in the end, they couldn’t get them over the hump.

This past offseason, the Wizards did their due diligence to add some veterans, a few of which are looking to find new roles in the rotation. So far, it’s been more of the same in 2017-18. The bench ranks 21st in points per game (30.8), 24th in rebounds per game (14.6), 27th in assists per game (5.8), 20th in steals per game (2.7) and 27th in blocks per game (1.2).

Those numbers wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t have a player that could focus each statistical category. With Jodie Meeks and Kelly Oubre Jr. off the bench, they should have no issue scoring. With Mike Scott and Ian Mahinmi, rebounding should be a piece of cake. The Wizards traded away their 2017 draft pick for Tim Frazier, a surefire backup point guard who played well last season with the New Orleans Pelicans.

So far, none of the previous statements have come to fruition and the Wizards have largely suffered for it. Meeks is shooting just 27.6 percent from 3-point range this season. Scott is averaging just 3.4 rebounds per game and didn’t appear in their last game against the Milwaukee Bucks, although they won 99-88. Frazier is averaging just 3.2 points and 3.9 assists per game through 18 contests.

https://twitter.com/WashWizards/status/932986965602873345

Scott Brooks seems to still be figuring things out and there’s plenty of time for him to figure it out, right now.

Next: 2017-18 Week 6 NBA Power Rankings

If it’s not solved before the All-Star Break, a trade of some sort could be necessary.