Davis Bertans was traded to the Dallas Mavericks before the trade deadline struck, in a move that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Washington. The Latvian player could be a terrific addition to the Mavs, as Mark Cuban recently stated, bringing his shooting skills to the 2011 NBA champions.
He left a complex situation in D.C. and joined Luka Doncic in Texas, trying to help the guard lead this team to compete in the playoffs once and for all. Davis is really happy to be where he is, as he didn’t feel comfortable with all the things happening with the Wizards.
On Saturday, prior to the hard-fought duel between Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks, Bertans opened up on his tenure in the capital team, taking a shot at his former teammates for all the drama he lived daily. Bertans believes that everybody asking for more time on the court led to the Wizards’ struggling situation, which has been happening for a while now.
“It’s tough to have team chemistry when every single day, the team is basically fighting with each other about ‘I want to get more minutes’ and ‘I want a bigger role.'” Bertans said. “That was probably the biggest part of struggles for most guys during the season. That kinda early on that doesn’t show up because everybody’s trying to figure out what’s going on. Once it starts going downhill, it’s really hard to turn around and start going up again.”
Davis Bertans on what went wrong for the Wizards 😬
"It's tough to have team chemistry when every single day, the team is basically fighting with each other about 'I want to get more minutes' and 'I want a bigger role.'" pic.twitter.com/KCHOALRpIw
— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) February 12, 2022
The Wizards started this season with renewed hopes after landing Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in exchange for Russell Westbrook. A 10-3 record made them dream about a solid regular season and a good playoffs run, but things have gone downhill ever since.
They are 15-26 after that incredible start, and nobody seems to be taking responsibility for their situation. Bertans know what happened within the locker room and he was very vocal about it. Perhaps his former teammates can listen to him now and they start taking advantage of their opportunities instead of asking for more without proving anything.
Washington currently ranks 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, out of play-in tournament positions. They need to find a way to bounce back, and perhaps the addition of Porzingis can help them. Bertans is ready to start a new challenge in Dallas and help this squad succeed in the postseason.
