Unless you love Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal, you may not have watched a ton of Wizards games this year as a Memphis Grizzlies fan.
However, the Wizards have been hot as of late, winning seven of their last ten games. A lot of that has to do with the way their role players have been playing on both sides of the floor.
The Memphis Grizzlies are traveling to Washington D.C. to take on the red-hot Wizards in a game that could have fireworks offensively.
Obviously, we all know about the dynamic duo of Beal and Westbrook. However, the Wizards have a few key players on their team that the Grizzlies and their fans should know about.
If this confident Grizzlies squad is not careful, they could be leaving the nation’s capital with a loss.
Wizards players that the Memphis Grizzlies need to watch for
Rui Hachimura, PF
Hachimura is a second-year player that has improvements across the board for Washington. It may not show up on paper, but there is definitely a sense of maturity when you watch him play.
The sophomore player has tremendous length, and the Wizards do a great job of getting him in positions to use that length. While Hachimura does not get a ton of steals, he does get deflections, which can be just as important.
Hachimura is getting to where he can now space the floor better with his shooting. While he isn’t a knock-down threat, he can make you pay from the corners.
Davis Bertans, SF
This is a guy who will make you pay from three no matter where he is on the floor. If you did not know that about Davis Bertans by now, you probably have not watched much basketball.
Bertans has shot over 37% from three in every year of his career, including 42% last year and the year before. While that number is down to 38% this year, Bertans is still an elite shooter.
The Wizards do a lot of stuff with Bertans that you may have seen before. In a way, they treat him like Klay Thompson and bring him off screens. The only thing is, Bertans is nearly a seven footer.
Deni Avdija, SF
Deni Avdija is a rookie that was highly sought after coming into the draft. However, he fell to the Wizards with the ninth pick after being a projected top-five pick. It is safe to say the Wizards got a steal with him at nine.
While he does not have the assist numbers, Avdija is a great playmaker, especially when considering how young he is. Avdija is a young player who is already ‘okay’ at everything he does.
The one thing Memphis needs to watch for is his ability to get lost in the offense. He will often fade to a corner three out of the offense and hit them from anywhere.