Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Las Vegas, NV–
For anyone who has been paying attention to the past few weeks of what Will Dawkins has been doing with this young Wizards team, its worthy of paying attention to.
While some of the naysayers will say we have seen all of this before with guys like Wall and Beal and it just hasn’t moved the needle to more than just creeping into to playoffs. This time it seems a bit different.
As the Wizards take to the court for their final Summer League regular schedule tonight, this may be the best squad of young talent in the NBA. While we might be just short of saying this is the OKC model, it very well could be the right direction that the Wizards have been missing on the road map for the past few seasons.
One thing we have seen so far is that Tre Johnson has clearly been the guy they thought they were drafting. His first two games clearly show his basketball IQ is very high and puts him in the rotation to make something happen this season with guys like Alex Sarr at his side.
Sarr began the Las Vegas Summer League with a solid 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and a steal against the Phoenix Suns. He followed that effort with 16 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, and a dominant eight blocks against the Brooklyn Nets. Can this translate into a guy that will eventually give you those types of numbers on a regular basis? Only if the veterans give him some help.
One big test in this final game for the Wizards young guys would have been against Ace Bailey who is out for his fifth straight game with a hip injury. So perhaps the Wizards can cash in? They might have to do so without Bub Carrington and Johnson who have been listed as day to day for the game tonight. Perhaps Dawkins has seen all he needs to see in Vegas? It’s been good, but not mind blowing and that is what they need to shake the woes of the last couple of seasons in D.C
