Empty the Bench

The Washington Wizards’ record stands at an anemic 15-49 with 18 games to go, which ties them with the lowly Los Angeles Clippers for the NBA’s second-worst record. (Only the directionless Sacramento Kings, at 14-50, are worse.)

They are the only team in the league who’ve yet to defeat a divisional opponent, having to date gone a combined 0-13 against the Magic, Hawks, Heat, and Bobcats.

Head coach Eddie Jordan was fired in November and replaced with Ed Tapscott. Their best highest-paid player, Gilbert Arenas, has not seen 1 second of regular-season action as he continues to cope with a balky left knee; don’t expect him to play until next year.

(Thank God the Wizards have Arenas locked him up for another five seasons at the bargain price of $110 million. On the bright side: that’ll be one valuable expiring contract for the team to dangle come 2013.)

Starting center Brendan Haywood suffered a season-ending wrist injury during the preseason. Shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson Jr. played in only two games since December 30 before succumbing to season-ending back surgery. Center Etan Thomas tore a knee ligament in January; he’s also done. There are rumblings that All-Stars Caron Butler and/or Antawn Jamison could be dealt this summer in a salary-dump move, a la Marcus Camby to the Clippers for a second-round pick.

It’s the perfect picture of a franchise in absolute disarray and one which will obviously see its streak of four consecutive playoff appearances come to an embarassing halt. Fitting, then, that their lowest-paid player, 2007 second-round pick Dominic McGuire, has proven to be one of the few positive takeaways during this nightmarish season.

At 6-9 and capable of moving around to a few perimeter positions, McGuire is sort of like a Mini-Me Butler, albeit graced with significantly less natural talent, shooting range, etc. He does the “little” things like defend, dive for loose balls, cause turnovers, and hit the boards hard, skills which characterize successful, high-impact bench players who can also hold their own in the starting lineup when called upon.

And due to injuries to Stevenson, Butler, and veteran Mike James, McGuire has had to do just that: in 39 starts, he’s averaged 5.5 points, 6.4 boards, 3.1 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block in just over 31 minutes per. Those numbers aren’t huge, but there’s something to be said for getting a little bit of everything from a player who wasn’t expected to play much of a role for the Wiz. At the very least, this kid has carved out his niche and deserves a spot in next season’s rotation regardless of what happens with Arenas and Stevenson.

His overall contributions haven’t gone without notice, either. “What he does night in and night out is he takes the toughest defensive assignment for us. He just keeps coming and brings it on every possession for us,” Ed Tapscott said recently. “Everybody on the team wants the ball, but someone has to play without the ball. He makes an impact and you need guys like that.” Antawn Jamison elaborated: “”He’s concerned about getting out there and scrapping, doing the things that are right and trying to help us win ball games. He’s going to be in the league for a good while.”

And while he’s out there scrapping and doing the right things for the Wizards, he’ll only be making about $16.3 million less in salary than Arenas will over this season and next, when McGuire’s current deal expires in the summer of 2010.

Dominic McGuire Photo Credit: Icon SMI

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