Washington Wizards: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season

3. Otto Porter Jr. has to step up on his own

Otto Porter had a good year for the Washington Wizards. He’s a guy who has worked to get to where he is and knowing that, he needs to step up more on his own.

For instance, in February, Porter averaged 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game on 52.3 percent shooting from field goal range and 40.7 percent shooting from behind the arc. For much of this stretch, the team was without point guard John Wall.

Fast forward to a month later, the team is still without Wall, Porter is averaging 14.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in March, when the Wizards went 6-8. Without Porter’s scoring production, it looked as though the team lost its way.

He’s a guy who has to get the ball in his hands and create his own shot. After all, he shot 52 percent from 3-point range after the All-Star Break (24 games). Some of it is in the game plan, but most of it is on Porter to either move and get himself open or get his teammates to set him a screen and get open.

By the end of the postseason, Porter was sidelined with a left leg injury so he’ll need to focus on getting healthy this offseason. Part of his regime needs to be getting more aggressive off the dribble.