National Basketball Association

Washington Wizards 2016-17 Season Predictions: Scott Brooks Won't Immediately Reward Young Players With Playing Time

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Washington Wizards head coach, Scott Brooks, won’t immediately reward the team’s young players with playing time, just like he didn’t in OKC.

Randy Wittman was notorious for playing washed up, injury prone veterans over hungry, developing players. So when Scott Brooks became the Washington Wizards‘ new head coach shortly after Wittman was ousted in April, people immediately assumed that the likes of Kelly Oubre and Jarell Eddie would receive more of an opportunity.

While Brooks has proven to be a solid player developer – Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams and Reggie Jackson all showed great improvement under Brooks – that doesn’t necessarily mean that the young players will be handed playing time.

Player development goes far beyond just playing time.

Getting actual run on the court is a large part of it, but practices, film sessions and individual workouts with the coaching staff are far more important in the bigger picture.

Currently, the Wizards know that their starting five is returning. The rest of the rotation is somewhat up in the air.

We can assume that Ian Mahinmi will become the backup center, unless he surprisingly supplants Marcin Gortat during training camp and preseason.

But the rest of the positions aren’t clear.

Will Trey Burke play the primary backup point guard position or will Tomas Satoransky play his natural position under Brooks?

How will Marcus Thornton and Eddie, both of whom are scorers, fit in the lineup – if they do at all?

Can Andrew Nicholson consistently knock down the 3-point shot and earn minutes over Jason Smith, who’s been one of the best mid-range jump shooters in the NBA?

Those questions will be answered over the next couple of months, but believing that the veterans – specifically Thornton and Smith – won’t get playing time because the Wizards focused on adding young talent this summer is just setting yourself up for disappointment.

During Brooks’ tenure as the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, he did favor some veteran players over the ones he and his coaching staff were still developing.

In 2013-14, rookie Adams played less minutes than both Nick Collison and Kendrick Perkins.

Adams, who was 20 at the time, sat on the bench as his vets got a chance to play. The same was true for rookie Andre Roberson, who played 200 less minutes than Caron Butler that season.

The next season, 2014-15, Adams became a key player for the Thunder, getting the fourth most minutes on the roster. The veterans whom he sat behind took his spot on the bench.

Once Brooks felt comfortable with letting him get actual playing time, Adams began to thrive, leading to his breakthrough 2015-16 campaign with coach Billy Donovan.

Ironically, Roberson was in a similar position as Adams during Brooks’ last season as head coach of the Thunder.

As a sophomore, Roberson did receive a considerable bump in minutes, but he still played behind Anthony Morrow, who was getting over 24 minutes per game. Jeremy Lamb, a rotation player with the Charlotte Hornets, was buried on the bench behind Collison and Kyle Singler.

Thornton could be to Satoransky (or even Oubre) what Morrow was to Roberson and Lamb. Nicholson, a former first round pick, will have to battle for playing time against Smith, who could be compared to the Thunder’s veterans in this scenario.

Playing time won’t be guaranteed for anyone besides the starters and Mahinmi. The rest of the crew will have to earn their minutes.

Brooks holds players accountable and has hired a staff that will focus primarily on helping the younger talent get better. With that said, the young players might end up getting less playing time than most are anticipating.