3 goals for the Washington Wizards’ first road trip

1. Get Otto Porter Jr. going

Scott Brooks was preaching Otto Porter Jr.’s new and improved role with the Wizards all offseason, swearing that he’d see a big jump in his offensive role. Brooks wants Porter to start shooting 3s at a greatly increased clip and has given him the ultimate green light, per Michelle Martinelli of NBC Sports.

In his first outing, Porter didn’t make a single 3. No, he didn’t just miss all his 3-point attempts, he didn’t even take one.

It was an exceptionally odd performance, given all the talk around his increased shooting role, but chalk it up to early season jitters and John Wall wanting to prove himself again early on after his frustrating season last year. Look for the ball to really start moving and for Otto’s attempts to steadily rise.

It wasn’t all bad for Porter, though. So far, he’s been looking like an All-Defensive Team member, and will lead the Wizards on that end. If he can get it going on defense, his offense will come with it. The more Washington can get out and run, the more good things will follow.

Otto is the third member of the “Big 3” on this team. We pretty much know what we’ll get from Wall and Beal on any given night now, so a lot of the team’s success will hang on Porter’s performance. If he can get it going here early on this road trip, the Wizards will be dangerous moving forward.