Washington Wizards: Finding the missing piece in the rotation

The Washington Wizards aren’t in terrible shape this season with a 14-12 record in the East, but it just seems like they’re missing something in their rotation.

The Washington Wizards are one squad that could use a jumpstart in their rotation. Right now, they’re missing the energy and fast pace that point guard John Wall brings every game. He’s missed the last eight games, during which the team has gone 4-4.

Take the Wizards’ last game against the Los Angeles Clippers, who have a 9-15 record. On Sunday afternoon, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr. combined for 52 points on offense, but the defense didn’t quite show up right away. The Clippers outscored the Wizards 32-22 in the second quarter to take a 62-49 lead into halftime. Washington shot 8-of-19 (42 percent) from the floor while the Clippers went 12-of-20 (60 percent), getting 11 points from Austin Rivers, including three 3-pointers.

There’s no room for this team to leave points on the board, especially with their 14-12 record in the early going. In a game that saw 17 lead changes, the Wizards eventually fell 113-112 in the end.

They are currently tied with the Detroit Pistons for the sixth-best record in the East. The Boston Celtics still have the best record in conference at 23-5. The Cleveland Cavaliers are right behind them with a 19-8 record. The Indiana Pacers have been the surprise team in the East. They recently snapped Cleveland’s 13-game winning streak as well on Friday night. Growth is the name of the game for the Washington Wizards in the 2017-18 season.

The Washington Wizards may be afraid to admit it but they’re missing something and that’s a solid defender to prevent big scoring runs. Their bench was outscored 59-47 by the Clippers as Lou Williams went for 35 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds.

Finding the missing piece

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Mike Scott, or Ian Mahinmi or Tomas Satoransky who came up short for the second unit either. Scott led the way scoring off the bench with 22 points while also snagging eight rebounds. Mahinmi chipped in with 14 points, three assists and two rebounds. Satoransky continues to assert himself at the backup point guard position. He racked up 11 points, six assists and six rebounds despite the loss.

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Instead, it was Markieff Morris and Kelly Oubre Jr. who couldn’t seem to put it all together. Morris had just two points after coming off a 21-point outburst against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night. He played just 15 minutes, finishing with four fouls. Oubre went scoreless for the first time all season to the tune of 0-of-5 shooting from the field and 0-of-3 from 3-point range against the Clippers despite playing 20 minutes in the game.

Rumors have come up that the Wizards are a team looking to obtain DeAndre Jordan via trade, but not so fast. Their frontcourt isn’t the problem as much as their defense is. They seemed to have that largely figured out in the two prior contests, getting two victories and allowing fewer than 100 points in both games. Then came the lackadaisical start against Los Angeles on the road.

They may want to look into seeing what type of value they can get for a few players in the backcourt for a defensive spark plug off the bench. Oubre had arguably his worst game of the young season and there’s time for him to bounce back for now, but still.

Next: 2017-18 Week 9 NBA Power Rankings

The Wizards are 6-7 against opponents with records below the .500 mark. Washington returns to action on Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets (10-15), a team with the second-ranked scoring bench in the NBA (45.0 points per game). If Washington isn’t ready to play in this one, it could be time for discussion about a larger shakeup in the rotation.

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