The Wizards’ frontcourt experiment hasn’t clicked yet, and the numbers tell the story.
Through 10 games, Washington’s pairing of Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr has been a rough fit, even if the idea made sense on paper. Davis brings scoring and rebounding.
Sarr adds passing and shooting. Both have the kind of defensive instincts and tools that should help anchor the middle.
Instead, the Wizards are 4-6, and when both bigs share the floor, Washington has managed just a 106.9 offensive rating while shooting 28.8% from three.
The offense has looked much better with Davis playing without Sarr, and it has also improved, though not as dramatically, when Sarr is out there without Davis. Sarr’s best game of the season came against the Thunder, and Davis did not play in that one.
There’s also been a wrinkle that doesn’t help the case for the young big man: the offense has run better with Deandre Ayton on the floor than it has with Sarr. That said, Sarr missed part of the early season and may still be settling into a very different Wizards setup than the one he had last year.
Elsewhere in the Southeast, Desmond Bane’s run of availability with the Magic hit a snag on Saturday. He was a late scratch in Orlando’s overtime loss to the Warriors because of an illness, ending his streak of appearing in every game since the June 2025 trade that brought him to the team. Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel noted that Bane entered the night tied for 17th in minutes per game, and he’s averaging 17.5 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 36.8% from deep this season.
In Miami, rookie second-round pick Ryan Conwell has gone from limited minutes to a real bench role in a hurry. Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reported that Conwell averaged just 10.3 minutes over the Heat’s first nine games, but he has already logged about 46 minutes across the last two.
He scored 13 points and added three steals in nearly 30 minutes during Thursday’s loss to the Warriors. “It’s a blessing just to be in this position,” Conwell said.
“To be on this team and then just have the opportunity just to be on the floor. I mean, I just never want to take it for granted.
And that’s really just my mindset every time I get out there. Just make the most of every minute that I can and just play as hard as I can.”
Erik Spoelstra backed up the increased responsibility with a blunt assessment. “He earned it,” Spoelstra said.
“It wasn’t something that was for any other reason. What we want from our guys right now is impact the game, impact the scoreboard, make us have to play you and stack up a bunch of positives in the rotation.
That’s what we need right now.”
The Hawks, meanwhile, have steadied themselves after a demanding opening stretch. Atlanta has won five of its last six and sits 7-4 after an 11-game start that included six road games and seven games in 11 days.
Lauren J. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that the frontcourt was tested during that span, and the team has posted a 14th-ranked offense and 18th-ranked defense so far.
Quin Snyder said, “I love that we’ve won a couple in a row, but I’m also, it’s early in the year, and we just want to keep getting better,” coach Quin Snyder said. “We do that and win at the same time; that’s the best scenario.
So I feel like having a chance to play a really difficult schedule to learn from some of those games.”
In Other News...
Hawks Face A Luka Problem Before The Lakers Even Tip Off
Luka Doncics availability is already shaping the conversation around the Hawks next matchup, even before the Lakers arrive. Doncic sat out Sundays game against the Pistons with lower back tightness, and that has put a familiar layer of uncertainty on a team that can look entirely different depending on whether he is on the floor.
For Atlanta, the concern is obvious: if Doncic plays, the Hawks are dealing with one of the leagues most difficult offensive engines, but if he does not, the game changes shape quickly. The Lakers could also choose to be cautious with him on the second night of a back-to-back, leaving the Hawks to wait and see which version of the opponent they will actually have to solve. [Read more 🡒]
Dyson Daniels Is Giving Hawks Fans A Strong Rebuttal To Critics
The Hawks fourth straight win, a comeback over the Nets, offered another reminder of why Dyson Daniels has quickly become such an important part of this group. He finished with a near triple-double, piling up nine points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, six steals and a block, the kind of all-around line that shows how much he impacts a game even when the shot isnt the headline.
For a player who has drawn plenty of attention for his offense, the bigger story in Atlanta has been everything else he brings. Daniels defense and playmaking have helped stabilize the Hawks, and the teams numbers with him on the floor point to a player whose value goes well beyond scoring. The question now is whether that broader impact keeps forcing a rethink of the criticism around him. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Have One Real Chance To Frustrate Luka Tonight
Luka Doncic has been playing at an MVP level, piling up 40.1 points per game while shooting 49.8 percent and adding his usual load of rebounds and assists. For the Hawks, the challenge tonight is less about stopping him altogether and more about making every touch feel crowded, uncomfortable and a little slower than he wants it to be.
Atlanta does have a few defensive options that have given Doncic some trouble before, with Dyson Daniels and Luguentz Dort among the kinds of active, physical defenders who can at least make him work for clean looks. The bigger question is whether the Hawks can keep rotating fresh bodies at him, stay disciplined on the help and make him solve a different look possession after possession. [Read more 🡒]