Keys to the Palace: Bogdanovic and Beal lead the way into March

The Wizards were 3-1 last week as they defeated the Warriors last Tuesday, split a pair of games against the Raptors, and finished the weekend off with a close win against the Orlando Magic.

Now it’s time to hand out the weekly evaluations. The Wizards were 3-1, so some players got keys. But they were really close to losing two in a row, so some players also got locked out. Let’s go!

Keys to the Palace

Bradley Beal, 26.8 ppg, 3.5 apg

Beal shot 47 percent or better in each game last week. Here are highlights of his 32 point performance against the Magic on Sunday.

Bojan Bogdanovic, 19 ppg

You’d think that Bogdanovic’s averages would drop since he joined the Wizards. Instead, he’s been the NBA’s 6th Man of the last week. He had two 27 point performances -- his best came on Sunday against the Magic.

Jason Smith, 8 points against the Raptors on March 1

Smith’s minutes on the court have been limited since Bogdanovic and Ian Mahinmi have gotten up to speed. And though he played one game, those 10 minutes last Wednesday were enough for me to give him a key.

When Smith performs like he did in just one game, where he made all four of his shots and grabbed five rebounds in 10 minutes, the Wizards need to find more time for him.

Guest Passes

John Wall, 18.3 ppg, 12.3 apg, 6 rpg

The bad news about Wall’s performance last week was that he shot under 40 percent in each game. But he still kept his playmaking skills on point and continued to excel on the defensive end of the floor.

Markieff Morris, 13.5 ppg, 6 rpg, 3.3 apg

Keef’s best showing was last Tuesday against the Warriors, where he scored 22 points and blocked four shots. But he otherwise had a not too great or terrible week.

Ian Mahinmi, 4.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg

Mahinmi’s minutes topped 20 in two of the last four games. His shooting percentage is still poor, but he’s otherwise in form out on the court.

Brandon Jennings, 1 ppg, 3.5 apg

It’s just two games into his Wizards tenure, but I was impressed with Jennings’ 7 assist performance on Sunday against the Magic. Without his performance in that game, the Wizards would have probably lost that game.

Tomas Satoransky, 1.5 ppg, 2 rpg

I’ll give Sato a pass after he scored five quick points in the Magic game on Sunday. It was also Czech Heritage Night, so it was nice to see him make contributions for a game that was on his radar.

Lockout

Otto Porter, 10.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg

Porter’s best performance was a 14 point effort against Golden State, but he followed that up with a lackluster effort against the Raptors though they won. Porter gets locked out for being ineffective that game.

Marcin Gortat, 9.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg

Gortat started the week out right with a 12 point, 12 rebound effort against Golden State, but his performances last Friday and Sunday at home left a good deal to be desired. Hate locking Gortat out, but he wasn’t in form in the Wizards’ last couple of games.

Kelly Oubre, Jr., 3.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg

Oubre shot under 30 percent for the week once again and he played just six minutes on Sunday against the Magic. This cold streak by Wave Papi’s getting a bit too long for my taste.

Too little time for an evaluation

Chris McCullough, Sheldon McClellan played just one minute last week. Daniel Ochefu and Trey Burke did not play at all.