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Wizards fall to Pelicans, as Johnny Davis continues to adjust in Summer League

By Chase Hughes

Wizards fall to Pelicans, as Davis continues to adjust originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

The Washington Wizards lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 106-88 on Wednesday night in their third game of the Las Vegas Summer League. Here are five observations from what went down…

Good start, but…

The Pelicans were playing without their two top draft picks from this year, as eighth overall pick Dyson Daniels sat with a minor ankle injury and second-round pick E.J. Liddell, unfortunately, suffered a torn ACL, so the Wizards had a chance to take advantage of a depleted New Orleans roster. Early on, they did exactly that, as they led after the first quarter by seven points and shot 65.5% in the first half.

From there, though, very little went right for Washington. They ended up getting beaten handily, by 18 points.

Daniels not playing took some shine off this game, as he was taken only two spots ahead of Wizards’ first-round pick Johnny Davis. In an ideal world, those two players, both guards, would match up and provide some intriguing early impressions.

We will have to wait a few more months to see Davis and Daniels go at it. The Wizards, meanwhile, are now 1-2 in the Las Vegas Summer League.

Davis still adjusting

It was another game that showed room for improvement for Davis. He had his third so-so shooting game in a row, this time going 3-for-7 from the field. He had eight points, four rebounds and two assists, but also three turnovers. The more Davis plays in Las Vegas, the more it seems like the style of play in Summer League is unfamiliar for him. Davis is coming from the Big 10 and the University of Wisconsin where the game was very structured. Now he’s in the Summer League where there is very little structure. It’s basically a wide-open free-for-all.

The good news for Davis is that the NBA is somewhere in between. That said, certainly, the early returns from Davis are showing a learning curve that could be there come training camp. If that’s the case, he may be in for a Corey Kispert-like trajectory as a rookie. Kispert also didn’t light up Summer League either and took some time to adjust early in his first NBA season. But after a few months, he became a reliable rotation player.

Will we see Davis vs. Mathurin?

While the Pelicans were lacking top prospects, the Wizards’ next opponent could be quite the matchup. The Indiana Pacers have sixth overall pick Bennedict Mathurin, who plays the same position as Davis, as well as 2021 first-round picks Chris Duarte and Isaiah Jackson (taken with the pick the Wizards traded for Aaron Holiday), plus intriguing 2022 second-round picks Andrew Nembhard and Kendall Brown. The Pacers have an impressive collection of young players on their Summer League roster.

But that will be the fourth Summer League game for both organizations and once you get into the second half of the Las Vegas schedule, teams tend to start sitting guys. For example, Rui Hachimura only played three games for the Wizards back in 2019. Granted, he played really well. Kispert, their 2021 first-round pick, played four games. The Wizards, though, have already shown caution this summer by not having Kispert or Deni Avdija play. At some point, they could shut Davis down. It would be fun to see him go up against Mathurin, if it happens.

Carey Jr. kept it rolling

The Wizards’ most consistent player so far in the Summer League has been big man Vernon Carey Jr., who played well once again vs. the Pelicans. Carey Jr. had 11 points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal. He shot 5-for-6 from the field and did all of it in only 19 minutes of action.

Carey Jr. is doing a nice job on offense by using his strength, attacking the rim aggressively and displaying touch around the basket. He has been a positive for the Wizards, particularly on the offensive end. Defensively, the Wizards had some trouble with the Pelicans’ bigs on Wednesday. They also got obliterated on the boards, 46-25.

Zion was courtside

There was a large contingent of Pelicans players sitting courtside in Las Vegas, highlighted by Zion Williamson fresh off signing a $193 million contract extension with New Orleans. He was joined by C.J. McCollum, Brandon Ingram and others. Seeing all of those talented players together was a reminder the Pelicans may be able to make some noise this upcoming season if Williamson is healthy and available.

The Pelicans made the play-in tournament last season and saw Ingram enjoy a breakout postseason. Williamson would give them another star with the potential to perform like a superstar. His injuries, plus the emergence of Ja Morant (picked second behind him in 2019) have led to a lot of people seemingly forgetting how good Williamson is. Keep in mind he’s averaged an efficient 25.7 points in 31.7 minutes per game so far in his two-year career.

Oh hey, look. That’s NBC Sports Washington’s Chris Miller!

Rui Hachimura hitting his stride coming off Wizards’ bench

By Chase Hughes
Hachimura hitting his stride on Wizards' bench originally appeared on NBC Sports WashingtonConsistency for the Wizards as a whole has been elusive so far this season. At 5-6, they have had one stretch where they won 3-of-4, but also another when they lost 5-of-6. Kristaps Porzingis has been a rock in their starting lineup, but for the most part, their roster has been hot-and-cold.Rui Hachimura, though, has been one of the Wizards' most reliable players so far. On Monday night in a win over the Hornets, he pitched in with 16 points, 11 of them in the second half.That marked nine games of double-figure scoring for Hachimura in 11 total appearances. Porzingis is the only Wizards player with more double-digit scoring games, as Hachimura is tied with Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma.Unlike the others, however, Hachimura doesn't start. As of the end of Monday's win, he was tied for the NBA lead for double-digit scoring games off the bench. Bennedict Mathurin of the Pacers also has nine.While he hasn't been perfect, as evidenced by career-lows in field goal percentage (46.2%) and from the 3-point line (25.0%), Hachimura has taken to his role on the Wizards nicely. Head coach Wes Unseld Jr. has his rotation set up to showcase Hachimura's offense in the second unit and, for the most part, he's thriving.Hachimura was a full-time starter the first two years of his career, but came off the bench in 29 of his 42 games last season. This year, he has been a reserve in each game and has flashed the potential of what he can do against other teams' backups. The Wizards can utilize Hachimura's offense while also handing him more manageable defensive assignments.Hachimura's contributions were essential in Monday's win. He scored six straight points to finish the third quarter, giving the Wizards a four-point lead in the process. He then followed it up with five points in the fourth quarter and blocked a shot from Kelly Oubre Jr. with 2:32 left as the Wizards were pulling away.Hachimura showed the blueprint for how he can be effective in the Wizards' second unit against Charlotte. He scored a series of baskets just by running the floor and playing downhill. Jordan Goodwin (17 points, five assists) found him for a fastbreak dunk in the first quarter. In the fourth quarter, Daniel Gafford set up Hachiura for a baseline slam on a short roll through the lane.While Hachimura has done a consistent job scoring the ball this season, he has done so despite a wide variance in minutes. He has played as many as 32 minutes in a game and as few as 18. Hachimura is a top-seven player in the rotation, but Unseld Jr. goes with players who have the hot hand in the 4th quarter and sometimes Hachimura doesn't make the cut.Against the Hornets, he logged 26 minutes, tied for his 2nd-highest total of the season so far. He got back in Unseld Jr.'s good graces, after playing his season-low 18 minutes just two games ago in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets.Hachimura may have a unique opportunity to find stability in the 2nd unit, in a way that isn't possible at other positions. Hachimura has Kuzma firmly in place ahead of him in the starting lineup and no one behind him who has proven a threat to his minutes.Now in his 4th NBA season, Hachimura has a chance to carve a specific niche and at a good time, given this is the 1st contract year of his career. He can prove his value as a bench scorer and, as he showed on Monday, help his team win games.That seems like at a minimum a good jumping-off point in the short term. The hope would be over time, his shooting percentages trend upward. The more efficient he is, the more effective he will be as a scorer without a high volume of attempts.The Wizards, though, don't need much more from him than they got on Monday.
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