9. Washington Wizards
Starters – John Wall, Bradley Beal, Kelly Oubre, Markieff Morris, Marcin Gortat
Bench – Trey Burke, Marcus Thornton, Otto Porter, Andrew Nicholson, Ian Mahinmi
If you want a combo-forward, place Porter in the starting lineup. If you want more athleticism who can keep up more easily with the lightning quick backcourt of Beal and Wall, then choose Oubre (whose name kind of sounds like a Pokemon… Oubre! Oubre!)
Markieff Morris was acquired for the cost of a first rounder, so he shouldn’t be in danger of losing his starting spot. Gortat has been their starting center for awhile now, and for good reason – he’s crazy consistent.
Trey Burke, as mentioned earlier, was acquired for a 2021 second rounder. For a still young scoring guard, that’s like paying for a Chipotle burrito for a dollar. If only…..
Marcus Thornton was re-signed to provide some depth for the oft-injured Beal. (Here’s to hoping for no injuries for either of them).
Porter is still developing, but at a bit alarmingly slow pace for a top prospect coming out of college, and I think is better suited on the bench. That’s just me.
Andrew Nicholson is among the latest of bigs in Orlando who didn’t receive enough playing time but has the potential to be really good. People were outraged over the signing, but won’t be once the season begins.
Mahinmi is a very good defensive minded big who can post up opposing bigs quite well. Vogel liked to use Mahinmi and Lavoy Allen in big lineups in Indiana, but they had great results together; and I expect more of the same with Nicholson and Mahimni.
This unit is amongst the better ones Washington has had in recent memory. It’s not that their benches have been bad, it’s that their starters can’t stay healthy. Under new head coach Scott Brooks though, this unit should be amongst the tops in the league if he learns to finally play his starters less minutes.
Next: No. 8