The Washington Wizards completely transformed their roster this offseason, and naturally most of the attention has gone to the biggest names.
Trae Young is averaging 22.3 points and 11.3 assists through his first three games in Washington. Anthony Davis opened his Wizards career with a dominant 34-point, 12-rebound performance. And the excitement surrounding No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa continues to build as Washington waits for his regular-season debut.
But one of the biggest reasons the Wizards have opened the season 2-1 has been something considerably less flashy: their bench.
Washington’s second unit has quietly been one of the NBA’s most productive through the opening three games, a dramatic change from what the Wizards received from their bench a season ago.
Nick Gosse and Josh Gozze on a recent episode of Wizards Digest highlighted just how significant the early turnaround has been.
“Here’s something that explains a lot as to why this Wizards team looks pretty solid to start the year and not enough fans are talking about. It’s not the starters. It’s not Trae Young necessarily, even though they’ve been very good. It’s the bench. Washington’s bench unit leads the entire league in field goal percentage at 52.9%. And it is second in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.96. But it does not even stop there. The bench is sixth in three-point percentage at 37.8%, seventh in plus-minus at plus-3.8, ninth in scoring at 40.7 points per game. We can go through all these numbers, but it is really incredible what impact this bench has, especially considering this is the same group that finished dead last in plus-minus last season at a minus-4.8 — last to top 10 in a year. You obviously have Justin Champagnie, you also have Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington. They’re all and have been all net positive so far this season. And these are the guys who come in and the team, when they do come in, the team doesn’t immediately fall off. And this team hasn’t been super top-heavy to start the year, which is actually going to be a good thing going forward. And maybe more importantly, it’s how you win consistently in the league.”
Three games obviously isn’t enough to declare Washington’s bench one of the NBA’s best. But the early returns are difficult to ignore.
Justin Champagnie has been at the center of it. After questions throughout the preseason about whether he would even have a consistent spot in Brian Keefe’s rotation, Champagnie leads Washington at plus-36 through three games.
Tre Johnson has provided another scoring threat, while Bub Carrington has looked increasingly comfortable in an off-ball role.
That depth could become even more important once Dybantsa returns and Keefe has another legitimate rotation player at his disposal.
Young and Davis were brought to Washington to change the ceiling of this team. Dybantsa represents its future.
But if the Wizards are going to consistently win games this season, what happens when those players leave the floor will matter too.
Through three games, Washington’s bench isn’t merely surviving those minutes.
It’s becoming one of the biggest reasons the Wizards are winning them.
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