Where Does Wizards' Bub Carrington Fit Long-Term?

When you think of the modern NBA prototype combo guard, Bub Carrington would be a great example. With the ability to score and defend, lead or play off-ball, and play both guard spots, Carrington is one of the many Swiss army knives on the Wizards who bring versatility and potential to Washington.

Could he be a lead guard? Could he be consistent enough to hold down shooting guard long-term? Will he be just a jack-of-all-trades at guard?

Could he or should he focus on one guard spot?

Bub Carrington has shown signs of being both a lead guard and a shooting guard. The problem is he does both well, but not great enough to focus on one. He's averaging 4 assists per game, so he can find teammates and set them up, but it has to be within a system. He doesn't have to paint penetration speed to collapse defenses yet, so he will have to depend on pick-and-rolls/pick-and-pops for opportunities to score or find someone in the paint. He brings microwave scorer potential, he just needs consistency. He brings great energy on the defensive end, too.

The only problem that I see with him is against taller guards. There are more and more 6'8 shooting guards coming into the league, and when you look at point guards like Nikola Topic or Egor Demin, those mismatches could be tricky for Bub, but he'll be okay. Defense is a mentality, and he has the dawg defensive mentality to overcome height mismatches. Again, he plays both guard spots well, not great enough to focus on one. Could he be great at both?

Be a jack of all trades

The best course of action for Bub would be for him to prosper at both at a high level. Former NBA players Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams are two great examples of players who could hold down both guard spots and do it at a high level. Both could start or come off the bench, run point, or become a perimeter threat on any given night. That's what I see for Bub and his career trajectory. Whether they roll with Jordan Poole long-term or draft a guard like Dylan Harper, or play both, he has the versality to either start at one of the guard spots or come off the bench as the 6th man and top bench scoring option. If the Wizards strike out on Cooper Flagg, this would be the scenario that I would see in DC, but if they go with Cooper Flagg or Ace Baily or another center, he would probably start, but the Wizards have options.

That's the biggest key here: the Washington Wizards have options. Having options is progress in DC.

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