AJ Dybantsa already looks like the type of player who could turn into a superstar for the Washington Wizards. But in order to get there, he needs on-ball reps. At least, that's what Adam Mares believes, as stated on the All-NBA Podcast. That means the Wizards need to play Trae Young off the ball. That didn’t work out for the Atlanta Hawks, but Washington is going to have to make it work.
The Hawks have experience trying to play Young off the ball. When they traded for Dejounte Murray to be his co-star in Atlanta, that was part of the requirement. Both guys would have to spend some time playing off the ball. But that experiment didn’t work. They broke up those two guys, starting a new era in Atlanta.
Washington needs to prioritize Dybantsa’s development over everything else, even if that means learning the same lesson the Hawks did regarding Young.
Wizards are going to have to play Trae Young off the ball
At his best, Young is one of the best playmakers on the planet. He’s an elite passer and can make everyone around him better on the offensive end of the court. He proved that in 2021.
Unfortunately, when the Hawks tried to build around Young by trading for Murray to be his backcourt partner, it failed. Both guys needed the ball in their hands too often for the partnership to work.
But more notably, neither guy was a good enough off-ball player to make the sacrifice of giving up some touches. Kyrie Irving could do that for Luka Doncic because he can shoot. The same goes for Austin Reaves in LA.
Young can shoot, but he’s not that efficient. He’s more of a volume guy, and even then, he takes a lot of his shots on the ball. However, the Wizards should want the ball to be in Dybantsa’s hands.
At the end of the day, even though the Wizards just handed Young a monster contract extension, Dybantsa is the future of the franchise. There’s no way around that reality.
If the Wizards want to maximize Dybantsa’s potential and help him become the future face of the franchise, they need to give him the ball. They need him to be a big-time on-ball creator.
That means Young will have to play off the ball. He’ll have to get used to not having the ball in his hands more often. But that could put the Wizards in a dangerous position.
Washington is about to learn the lesson that the Hawks know well: Young is just not a great off-ball player.
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