The first rule of preseason NBA basketball is to not take anything seriously. It’s an exhibition of NBA basketball, but it’s not really NBA basketball. Sure, guys try, but it’s not full-bore regular season intensity, there’s no game planning, and no one even thinks about a scouting report.
What I’m looking for in a first preseason game is to start getting a sense of how much young players improved, see first clues at what the rotation might be, and no injuries.
For a first preseason game, the Washington
Wizards loss to the Toronto Raptors was…fine. They fell behind big, came back, and…well…it doesn’t really matter. It’s just preseason, and we don’t take anything too seriously.
Here are a few things I liked:
- Alex Sarr made shots — 4-5 from the floor — and attempted just one three in 17 minutes. He also blocked a couple shots.
- Khris Middleton was spry, made shots, had a game-high five assists, and hit the boards. Presumably he’ll have the next game off.
- CJ McCollum made shots — 5-9 from three.
- Kyshawn George grabbed 9 rebounds and blocked 4 shots in 25 minutes.
And a few things I didn’t:
- Bub Carrington, Tristan Vukcevich, and McCollum each had four turnovers. Carrington and McCollum comprised the team’s starting backcourt. The Wizards were -34 in Carrington’s 23 minutes of action.
- The team shot 29.0% from three-point range, which was in keeping with them being the league’s second worst three-point shooting team last season.
- Cam Whitmore was fine trying to score but had zero rebounds in 17 minutes.
Based on game one of the preseason minutes (and some pre-first game guessing), I’m anticipating an opening night rotation something like:
Starters
- G — Bub Carrington
- G — CJ McCollum
- W — Khris Middleton
- W — Kyshawn George
- C — Alex Sarr
Reserves
- G — Tre Johnson
- W — Corey Kispert
- F — Justin Champagnie
- F — Cam Whitmore
- C — Tristan Vukcevich
That’s 10, which is what head coach Brian Keefe seemed to want to play last season. It’ll be interesting to see who drops from the rotation when Bilal Coulibaly returns from a thumb injury.
If there’s any positional intrigue, I think it could be Marvin Bagley III pushing Vukcevich for the backup big man spot. I don’t think Will Riley or Jamir Watkins are close to ready to push any of the wings or forwards in front of them.
One fun thing
Washington Wizards big man Alex Sarr and his older brother — Toronto Raptors big, Olivier — exchanged jerseys after the game.
