Can Wizards Make Playoff Push Without Davis Bertans?

• Davis Bertans will sit out the reminder of the season after posting 15.4 points per game, good for second-best on the team.

• The Washington Wizards will miss Bertans' 42.4 percent mark from beyond the arc.

• Rui Hachimura will likely see an expanded role with Bertans out.

• At +900 to make the playoffs, the Wizards are major longshots.

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Beal's Right-Hand Man

Davis Bertans was one of the first NBA players who decided against playing in Orlando once the regular-season restarts on July 30th. The Latvian power forward, who is set to become a free agent at season's end, opted out of the stretch run of the season citing “preventative measures”.

On paper, it’s a smart decision. Bertans has already dealt with two ACL injuries in the past and the Wizards have a slim -- and that’s a stretch -- chance to make the playoffs. To make things even more painful, Bertans was coming off a career-best season. He is likely to receive a massive payday in free agency and, so it's hard to blame him for wanting to stay healthy.

Looking at things from the Washington Wizards perspective, however, this is not a good sign for their slim chances of reaching the Eastern Conference playoffs as an eight-seed. By the time the NBA season was suspended on March 12th due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 6'10" Bertans ranked second on the team in scoring with a career-best 15.4 points per game, while also drilling his three-point attempts at a 42.4 percent clip. That figure was the seventh-best in league.

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Filling Bertans' Minutes

Replacing Bertans won't be easy, especially if we consider the Wizards won’t have John Wall, either. The team does not have another legit long-range threat on the roster and all signs point towards a bigger role for rookie Rui Hachimura as Bertans’ potential replacement in the offense. The Gonzaga product posted 13.4 points per game in 2019-2020 -- third-best mark on the team behind Bradley Beal and Bertans. His usage could spike up in Orlando due to the lack of reliable alternatives.

Garrison Matthews, Isaac Bonga and even Shabazz Napier can offer some of the long-range shooting Bertans supplied. However, neither is ready to fill a Bertans-like role off the bench. Matthews might be the best option, but he was only logging 12.6 minutes per game in 18 contests off the bench. It remains to be seen whether he continues hitting threes -- 41.3 percent on 2.6 attempts per contest -- with increased minutes.

As things stand now, the Wizards scoring burden will surely fall on Beal’s shoulders. The Wizards simply don’t have a way to replace Bertans. If their chances of reaching the playoffs were slim, then they only got worse with the Latvian for the league restart.

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