Benching McGee, Young just a coaching decision
JaVale McGee has set season lows for minutes played in each of the Wizards’ last two games. One night after being left on the bench for the entire second half of a 119-118 loss at Milwaukee, he was left out of the starting lineup for the first time all season in Washington’s 102-95 loss to Orlando on Wednesday.
Recommended Stories
But Wizards coach Randy Wittman said he isn’t sending a message to the precocious but often maddening 24-year-old center.
“I don’t know where all of a sudden I’m sending messages,” Wittman said. “I’m coaching. That’s what I’m doing. That’s what it’s called in our business is coaching. No subliminal messages here that somebody’s got to crypt through and figure.”
| Up next |
| Cavaliers at Wizards |
| When » Saturday, 7 p.m. |
| Where » Verizon Center |
| TV » CSN |
| Andray Blatche, who has missed the last 15 games with a left calf strain, returned to practice Thursday and expects to play in a limited role Saturday against Cleveland. Ronny Turiaf (broken hand), Rashard Lewis (sore left knee) and Nick Young (twisted right knee), who was scheduled for an MRI on Thursday afternoon, did not practice. |
McGee, who in his fourth season is averaging career bests in points (11.6 per game), rebounds (8.7) and blocks (2.6), finished with nine points, six assists and one block in just less than 16 minutes on the court against the Magic. He was asked after the game whether he understood why he didn’t start.
“I can’t say I do,” McGee said. “But I’m sure I’ll figure it out sooner or later.”
Wizards guard Nick Young, who played just four minutes after halftime against the Bucks, also was left out of the lineup against Orlando — his first missed start since Washington’s first two games of the year. He played his fewest minutes since the season opener and matched his second-lowest scoring game of the year with five points.
Following a sixth straight loss for the Wizards (7-28), Wittman said his shuffling of lineups and rotations isn’t meant to single out particular players. However, he has been critical of those who don’t play “the right way.”
“They know. Each player,” Wittman said. “It’s not JaVale. It’s not anyone. It’s all 14 of them. They know where they stand and what I expect of them. So there is no message.”
But based on their potential, both McGee and Young have been a significant part of the Wizards’ attempt at rebuilding since the demolition of the roster two years ago. Both are also essentially auditioning to keep their jobs and are far from guaranteed to remain with the Wizards beyond this season.
Young, who accepted a qualifying offer in December, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Wizards will have to extend a qualifying offer to McGee to make him a restricted free agent.
To Wittman, putting the leash on McGee and Young may seem like a tactical move. But it’s not difficult to interpret what it may portend for the Wizards’ future.
“I think at the end of the day, you look at our record, we’ve struggled,” Wizards guard Roger Mason Jr. said. “So I think everything’s up in the air. … You can have youth movements. You can do all these types of things. But nobody wants to be a part of a team that’s losing, and I think Witt’s just searching for that.”
