East Notes: Wizards, AJ Dybantsa, Magic, Nikola Vucevic, Heat

Wizards

Being the No. 1 overall pick usually comes with a fairly simple assignment: Please save us.

AJ Dybantsa doesn’t quite see it that way in Washington.

The Wizards haven’t won more than 18 games in any of the past three seasons, but Dybantsa said at Media Day that he doesn’t feel as if the franchise’s turnaround has been dumped entirely on him.

“I feel like there’s not a lot of pressure on me because I have such a great team around me,” Dybantsa said, via Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

To be fair, this isn’t your typical 18-win roster anymore. Washington has surrounded Dybantsa with Anthony Davis, Trae Young, Khris Middleton and Deandre Ayton, giving the rookie considerably more accomplished help than most No. 1 picks inherit.

“A lot of No. 1 picks come into a situation where they are ‘the guy’ and everything’s kind of centered around them,” Dybantsa said. “So I don’t have to come in and carry this huge load.”

The Wizards certainly hope he carries it someday. For now, they’ll settle for letting him learn how.

Magic

Nikola Vucevic has started 957 NBA games. He’s also 35 years old, back in Orlando and apparently just fine if start No. 958 doesn’t immediately arrive.

Vucevic acknowledged that he’ll have a smaller role during his second stint with the Magic and said he’s prepared for it, via Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel.

“I think it’s kind of a natural course for most players, eventually, to transition a little bit,” Vucevic said. “And I think there’s a lot of ways that I can still help even in a smaller role.”

Some of that will come off the court. Vucevic said he can help younger teammates navigate the ups and downs of an NBA season.

Meanwhile, don’t expect Orlando to rush out and fill its 15th roster spot. President Jeff Weltman said the Magic have “very little flexibility” financially and view the opening as something of an insurance policy in case of injury.

“We’re in no rush to just put a player on the roster for the sake of it,” Weltman said.

Heat

Erik Spoelstra would like Nikola Jovic to understand that missing a couple shots is not a national emergency.

Jovic is coming off a disappointing season after averaging 7.3 points and shooting 36.6 percent from the field. Back problems didn’t help, though Jovic said Monday that he hasn’t experienced any issues with his back in months and hopes to become a “spark plug off the bench,” via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

“He checked all the boxes I wanted him to check,” Spoelstra said.

That apparently included working on how Jovic responds when things aren’t going particularly well.

“It doesn’t have to be end-of-the-world body language when he misses a couple shots,” Spoelstra said, via Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Herald. “We all make mistakes.”

Jovic begins the four-year, $62.4 million extension he signed last year, so Miami obviously has more than a little invested in getting this right. Spoelstra believes they will.

“He’s going to make an impact on this team with his versatility,” he said.