Wizards forward Davis Bertans will sit out rest of 2019-20 season

The NBA season was initially suspended back in March, due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, a few weeks ago, the league decided to restart the season at the end of July. The Washington Wizards are one of the nine teams in the East that are vying for a postseason berth when play resumes. But, they will do so without the services of Davis Bertans.

Bertans has decided to sit out the remainder of the season as a preventive measure, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps. Davis Bertans spent the first three years of his career with the San Antonio Spurs.

During his time with the Spurs, Bertans proved to be a valuable floor-spacer, connecting on 40.4 percent of his 3-point attempts. And that trend has continued during his first season with the Wizards.

Not only is Bertans shooting 42.4 percent from 3-point range. He is doing so on a career-high 8.7 attempts from beyond the arc. Additionally, Bertans is averaging career-bests in multiple categories.

This includes scoring (15. 4 points per game), rebounding (4.5 per outing), and assists (1.7 per contest). Along with that, Bertans is averaging 29.3 minutes per game (up from 21.5 last season), which is also a career-high.

Bertans opting to sit out the rest of the season is smart for a few reasons. First, the Wizards are not what you’d call championship contenders. Especially with John Wall already sidelined with an injury.

Second, with the Wizards 5.5 games out, they’d need to make up at least two games over the remaining eight-game stretch. And even if the Wizards did close within four games of the No. 8 seed, they would have to beat that team twice just to get into the playoffs.

That task would be very difficult, to say the least. Last, but certainly not least, is the injury factor. Is it beneficial to Bertans to risk a serious injury when the Wizards wouldn’t go very far even if they did nab the No. 8 seed? Probably not.

Let’s also not forget there has been an increased number of COVID-19 cases in several states, including Florida. Sure, Bertans will forfeit some money (approximately $520,000) for the games he misses. In spite of that fact, it makes no sense for him to risk so much for so little in return.

Furthermore, the Wizards support his decision and have made re-signing him in the offseason a top priority. Simply put, Bertans is making the right choice. And don’t be surprised if he isn’t the only player that opts to sit out when the NBA season resumes.