Washington Wizards: 2018-19 NBA season preview

Storyline 3: How good will the Wizards bench be?

The Washington Wizards have some solid players on their bench for the upcoming season. The addition of Austin Rivers overshadows the letdown that Jodie Meeks has been; Meeks is set to miss the first 19 games of the regular season due to violating the league’s substance abuse policy. With Rivers, the Wizards get a player that is instant offense, much like forward Mike Scott was.

Rivers averaged a career-high 15.1 points, 4.0 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game for the Clippers in 2016-17 as a starter. He won’t start for the Wizards, but he’ll be one of the first players off the bench, allowing them to preserve Wall and Beal for the end of games.

Jeff Green gives them a versatile forward that can play inside and out on any given night. He’s far-removed from the 17.6 points per game he put up with the Boston Celtics in 2014-15, but consider this year a renaissance season for Green as he returns to his old stomping grounds of Washington D.C.. Green attended Georgetown University from 2004-07. As he enters his 11th year in the league, the former fifth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft looks to find a new role.

Rivers and Green will be key this upcoming season, as will those that remain, especially versatile guard Tomas Satoransky. Satoransky played well when given the opportunity, averaging 10.4 points, 5.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest in 30 starts in 2017-18.

Head coach Scott Brooks has an experienced rotation for the upcoming season, he’ll just need to utilize it in 2018-19. The bench ranked 21st in efficiency last season (-1.1), a vast improvement from their -10.2 (28th) finish in 2016-17, but they were lucky to have Oubre in the rotation. This year, he’ll have some veteran help which should improve things this year.