With three prominent players out of action Friday, the Washington Wizards were forced to turn to an uninspiring starting lineup against the Chicago Bulls. The lineup of Tomas Satoransky, Bradley Beal, Jeff Green, Trevor Ariza, and Thomas Bryant seemed a lot like a full-fledged tank lineup.
John Wall is set to see a specialist about the bone spurs in his heel that has hampered his play the past couple of weeks, missing Friday’s game. Otto Porter missed his ninth consecutive game of the season with a knee injury. Meanwhile, starter-turned-sixth man Markieff Morris missed Friday’s game with what the team described as a neck/back injury.
The Wizards went on to lose to the hapless Chicago Bulls 101-92. Washington is now 13-23 and in 11th-place in the Eastern Conference.
Beal had a game-high 34 points and added seven rebounds and five assists to no avail. No other Wizards player made more than four field goals. Bryant was the next best scorer with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
Satoranksy, who has become somewhat of a fan-favorite in light of Wall’s struggles, managed nine points and three assists in 39 minutes. He also was a game-worst minus-11.
Green finished with 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting, including 0-of-3 from three. Ariza, who the team acquired in a trade earlier this month for Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers, finished with 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting, including 2-of-8 from three.
The Bulls countered with Zach Levine’s 24 points. Kris Dunn added 13 points and eight assists. Lauri Markkanen had 14 points and 14 rebounds.
The Wizards’ secondary lineup might have been worse than the starting lineup.
Nonetheless, the Wizards seem nothing like expectations before the season started. Once upon a time, the Wizards were looking at a Wall, Beal, Porter, Morris, Dwight Howard starting lineup with Oubre, Rivers, and Green leading a much improved second unit. That’s become a distance dream to the Wizards’ nightmare season.
With uncertainty regarding Wall and his heel issue and Porter’s timetable to return, the Wizards are set to continue trotting out a tank mode lineup. That’s even with Beal.
Maybe that’s not a bad thing, Duke’s sensational freshmen trio are bound to be three of the top four picks in next summer’s NBA Draft. The Wizards are in desperate need of some talent to surround Wall, Beal, and Porter. In a season that appears to be going nowhere, why not set their sights on Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, or North Carolina’s Nassir Little, right?
