Washington Wizards: Assessing the team at the midseason mark

Bench

The Washington Wizards’ bench continues to be a work in progress. They’ve gotten tons out of Kelly Oubre Jr. and Mike Scott, but other than those two, the bench has left fans with much to be desired.

Oubre has been the Wizards’ best bench player on both ends this season. He’s averaging 11.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 27.0 minutes per game. The third-year wing man is shooting a career-high 37.6 percent from 3-point range while appearing in all 40 games for Washington.

He set a new career-high in points (22) against the Philadelphia 76ers back on Nov. 29. The Wizards lost that game, however, 118-113.

Scott has re-emerged as a threat off the bench after quiet season with the Atlanta Hawks in 2016-17. This season, he’s averaging 9.6 points and 3.4 rebounds on 57.8 percent shooting from the field. Whenever the Wizards have needed a spark off the bench, Scott has largely delivered. He’s put up 20 points or more in three games and finished in double figures in 17 games.

After Oubre and Scott, the Wizards bench is just about in the middle of the pack. They rank 18th in the league in points (34.7), 17th in rebounds (15.8), 22nd in assists (7.0) and 16th in steals per game (2.8). If they want to get over the hump, adding one more piece off the bench could be the key.

Grade: C+