Early in the season, Wizards starting center Marcin Gortat said Washington had one of the worst benches in the NBA.
He apologized, but he was right and the Wizards upgraded. They traded for Bojan Bogdanovic, signed Brandon Jennings and waited for Ian Mahinmi to get healthy.
But by the time Washington got eliminated by the Celtics in the second round, its bench had devolved. Kelly Olynyk (26 points), Marcus Smart (13 points) and Jaylen Brown (nine points) each outscored the the Wizards’ reserves – producing a 48-5 overall edge in bench scoring.
Jeff Goodman of ESPN:“Forty-eight to five,” were Wall’s last words as he took the final walk to the bus.
“Forty-eight to five,” he repeated. “Our bench had five points.”
Wall was terrific throughout the playoffs – until completely running out of gas in Game 7. In the final 19 minutes, he went scoreless on 0-for-11 shooting.
It’s probably safe to say where Wall feels Washington must improve this offseason.
Impressing Wall will be particularly important, as he’s now eligible for a designated-veteran-player extension.
