Wizards Rookie Continues Exploring Two-Way Creativity

There isn't anyone else quite like Watkins on the Wizards' roster. He entered the draft at 24 years old with far more mileage on his tires than anyone else in their young core, but the organization couldn't pass up his unique player profile. He had the defensive profile to rank among the better wing stoppers in the game, let alone his own draft class, and scored enough in college to warrant the 43rd pick this past summer.

He provided an immediate impact on the defensive side of the ball upon finally earning occasional NBA reps, with head coach Brian Keefe willing to assign Watkins to whichever lead ball-handler was poised to dine on the Wizards on a given night. As he's gradually filled in for departed or injured teammates, Keefe's experimented with using his tough rookie as a small-ball center, and Watkins is slowly learning how to enforce the offensive upside he flashed in college while he's spending more time at the rim.

"We've used him at the five, sometimes out of necessity, but we're liking what we're seeing," Keefe said following the Wizards' 129-112 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. "He can playmake, he has good feel for the game, he knows how to play in the short roll, he just does a lot of positive stuff, and not just defensively...that's the good thing about this part of the season, you're learning about guys like that in different positions."

Honing Watkins' Physical Brand

Wizards fans who only know Watkins for his timely takeaways or corner-sitting may not know that he peaked as high as 18.4 points per game during his final collegiate season at Florida State University.

That may not be special in the NBA, where every role player was the go-to guy at a previous stop, but there's something to be said about the rookie remembering how to tap back into the on-ball comfortability and versatility he'll need to stay on the floor when the on-court Wizards are a more threatening night-to-night operation.

His jumper never took off despite half a decade of development in the NCAA, and that's been largely represented in how he's guarded at the professional level. He's hitting just 25% of his deep attempts, the majority of which see him intentionally left open, but he's slowly learning how to shoot with less hesitation.

Watkins' slightly slow and low release could look a lot worse, and any casual fan who may have wandered into that loss to the Hornets wouldn't have called him a non-shooter after witnessing a trio of smooth swishes from beyond the arc.

And he isn't just settling for catch-and-shoot looks; he's made it a point to challenge the rim regularly over the Wizards' last 17 games, a stretch in which he's made 15 appearances. He's canned 55.6% of those recent 2-pointers by keeping it simple, attacking close-outs and going up strong whenever he's matched up against another small caught in rotation at the rim.

Watkins looked like a ready-made defensive specialist before making his NBA debut, and as easy as it would be for him to do his damage on that end while trying to remain invisible on offense, he has the skills and size to blow through those expectations. He'll spend the regular season's final third attempting to continue blossoming as a 3-and-D wing with some finishing chops, and the competitive Wizards of the future will thank him for continuing to strengthen his value.