2013-14 NBA Bench Power Rankings

Mar 22, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Washington Wizards small forward Martell Webster (9) and point guard John Wall (2) hug after their win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. Wizards won 103-100. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

10. Washington Wizards

Rejoice Wizards fans! The Al Harrington era has arrived! This burly Ninja Turtle looking three-point maven might just be the missing piece to the derailed jigsaw puzzle! Insane jokes aside, the Wizards and their coterie of pine warmers were an up and down experience of bad to good to really bad to decent. That’s a pretty standard showing for a green bunch and an organization that is trying like hell to shred their “knucklehead” (an overused trope, I know) reputation in favor of stolid and boring young role players.

Still, the Wizards had a little bit of what a person who knows one French phrase might call je ne sais quoi. They were the best awful team in the league, and it wasn’t even close. Jan Veseley has been a serious disappointment, a bewildered flat-footed Euro that can’t even light up garbage time competition. Is the world ready to declare him a bust? I say no. I say this is his year! Likewise Trevor Booker. He at times seem like an ideal rotation player, but at time wilts under the bright lights (he lost his starting spot to the aforementioned Veseley at one point, a day that will live in infamy). Perhaps his appeal is that he seems the antithesis of Andray Blatche. Speaking of appeal, Martell Webster was a shot in the arm of karma, as he’s long been one of the more underrated utility players, and a spate of injuries nearly erased him from the public consciousness. Webster shot ridiculously well from the corner, hustled his heart out, and yes, airballed that three pointer mistakenly called as a game winner. He does it all! Trevor Ariza is on the downslope of his career but in limited minutes he can approximate the talents that won so many accolades on those championship Lakers squads of yore. Together with intriguing rookie Otto Porter, the Ariza and Webster should create a formidable platoon of wing operators. Eric Maynor, once considered a pseudo member of the Thunder’s core, is now a young journeyman looking to redeem himself. He’s also a capable of starting stints if the unthinkable happens and John Wall is injured. It wasn’t too long ago people were (insanely) positing that Eric Maynor made Russell Westbrook expendable!

And yes, there’s always Kevin Seraphin to kick around.