HOUSTON -- Two months into his rookie season, playing time is still hard to come by for Wizards forward Troy Brown Jr. Even with the team's recent trade of Kelly Oubre Jr. to the Suns and the injury to Otto Porter Jr., Brown remains firmly on the Wizards' bench, out of the rotation to the point he was sent back down to the G-League on Thursday to get some floor time with the Capital City Go-Go.

In recent games, head coach Scott Brooks has opted for Sam Dekker and Tomas Satoransky in spots Brown would figure to potentially play. Brooks has explained it all as a long-term plan for the 2018 first round pick.

"It's hard to get rotation minutes," Brooks said. "It's hard to start. It's hard to be an All-Star and nearly impossible to be an MVP. There's a process that you have to go through and he's no different. It's nothing against him, it's just that he's going to have to continue to work on his game to get better as a young player."

Brown, 19, has appeared in 14 of the Wizards' 32 games this season. He has logged 95 total minutes at the NBA level. There are 20 players selected behind him in last June's draft that have either played in more games or minutes than Brown, including 10 second round picks.

Only two players chosen ahead of Brown have played less. One is Michael Porter Jr., who has been sidelined all season with a back injury. The other is Jerome Robinson, the 13th pick - two spots ahead of Brown - who is on a deep, 17-13 Clippers team.

Unlike L.A., the Wizards have struggled this season. They are 12-20 and missing key ingredients to win games, even after trading for Trevor Ariza and Dekker in separate deals.

Brown, though, has not been able to crack the rotation. Part of it is depth at his position. Even with Porter out, the Wizards have Ariza to start at small forward and Dekker and Satoransky to fill in behind him. At shooting guard, Bradley Beal logs heavy minutes and Satoransky backs him up. And though Brown's future could include some point guard, the Wizards do not believe he is ready to play there yet.

Part of why Brown isn't playing is his developing jump shot. He does not have a consistent jumper and therefore can't make teams pay for mistakes like others can. So far this season he is shooting just 33.3 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three. He shot just 29.1 percent in college from three-point range.

But Brown does do several things well, even at his age and experience level. He is an adept passer and ball-handler, showing a potential to someday be uniquely good at both for his position. He is also a skilled and committed rebounder. And on defense, he forces turnovers and gives a consistent effort, something some of his teammates have been criticized for.

Brown is also lighting up the G-League, where he will play again on Friday afternoon in his hometown of Las Vegas. Through five games, he's averaging 19.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals. He is shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 40 percent from three on five attempts per contest.

Those are impressive numbers and, though the sample size is small, the shooting percentages are encouraging. The best way he can impress the Wizards at this point is by passing the G-League test. Prove he can shoot from the outside at the G-League level, then perhaps they will deem him good enough to play more consistently in the NBA.

Brooks, for one, says he has seen some flashes of improvement already in Brown and he believes the rookie will soon be a success story of the team's new G-League affiliate. With the Go-Go now in their first season, the Wizards have the option to send players down to the G-League more frequently and Brooks believes Brown is benefitting.

"That's why we have also the Go-Go," Brooks said. "There's no question it's a big advantage that we have it right in our backyard now. He came in in a couple of games, like the first time against Atlanta, he came in and played well. That's because he played in the G-League. He got some experience... You can do all you can on a treadmill or on the court in practice, you're never going to get game conditioning. [He] had game conditioning."

Brooks came to Washington with a reputation for being able to develop draft picks and in Oklahoma City that included relying heavily on young players in important rotation roles. But with the Thunder, he had a group of future superstars in Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and James Harden.

With the Wizards, Brooks has been more apprehensive to play younger guys. Satoransky was moved along relatively slowly, for instance.

Surely, Brown would like to play more often, like his fellow draft class members. He just has to wait his turn.

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