Tristan Vukcevic News: Enters rotation, swats five shots

Vukcevic finished with 15 points (4-14 FG, 0-4 3Pt, 7-10 FT), five blocks, four rebounds and two assists across 23 minutes off the bench in Friday's 128-107 loss to the Pelicans.

When both Alex Sarr and Marvin Bagley have been available for games this season, Vukcevic has typically been outside of the rotation, with most of his appearances in those contests coming in garbage time late in blowouts. That changed Friday, however, as head coach Brian Keefe chose to deploy Vukcevic ahead of Bagley as Sarr's top backup. The 22-year-old capitalized on the opportunity, generating an excellent line that was highlighted by a career-high five rejections. Vukcevic is on a two-way pact and is eligible to appear in 14 more games before he would need to be upgraded to a standard contract, but that won't necessarily deter the rebuilding Wizards from continuing to prioritize him ahead of Bagley, who is four years older and on an expiring deal. Even in a limited role behind Sarr, Vukcevic could still make for an intriguing option in deeper fantasy leagues. In 73 games over his three NBA seasons, Vukcevic holds career per-36-minute averages of 22.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.1 three-pointers, 1.8 blocks and 0.8 steals.