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Washington Wizards: Ian Mahinmi Remains an Awkward Fit on the Team

By Ben Mehic

Nov 26, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards center Ian Mahinmi (28) defends in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Spurs won 112-100. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards center Ian Mahinmi (28) defends in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Spurs won 112-100. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Washington Wizards signed center Ian Mahinmi to a multi-year contract, but he’s been an awkward fit on Scott Brooks’ roster.

When Kevin Durant, Al Horford and Ryan Anderson fell off the free agency board, Washington Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld turned to Ian Mahinmi – the best big man left on the market.

Washington signed Mahinmi to a four-year, $64 million contract, even though Marcin Gortat has steadily produced as the team’s starting center.

During media day, most expected Mahinmi, who was a top-10 defender with the Indiana Pacers last season, to compete with Gortat for the starting gig.

Given the terms of Mahinmi’s contract, there was speculation about Gortat’s future with the team.

But knee issues have sidelined Mahinmi for all but three games this season. Jason Smith, whom the team signed in case of injury, has been the Washington Wizards’ primary backup center.

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After weeks of struggling – Smith was rockin’ a negative player efficiency rating at the beginning of the season – Smith has become the Wizards’ most productive bench player.

Washington’s bench is still last in scoring and field goal percentage, but Mahinmi cannot help in those categories.

This week, Mahinmi made his return to the hardwood after missing months of action.

He’s made little to no impact on the Wizards’ victories, but has shown subtle flashes of his pick-and-roll defense and rim protection.

Gortat has played over 30 minutes per game this season and bigs tend to break down as their usage increases.

Mahinmi’s return will allow Gortat to get much-needed rest, but since both are starting-quality bigs, at least when healthy, Scott Brooks will have to find a way to tweak his rotation without hurting the team’s chemistry.

Mahinmi, like Gortat, isn’t known for scoring with his back to the basket, but rather off drop-off and pick-and-roll passes. For him to produce offensively, he’ll have to share the court with John Wall and Bradley Beal. The problem is, the same applies with Gortat, who’s also dependent on the guards for scoring.

The two bigs cannot play together and Brooks has done a solid job of maintaining adequate spacing this season.

Going forward, Brooks will have to utilize Mahinmi – the highest paid big man on the roster – without hurting Gortat’s production.

After the Wizards’ win over the Indiana Pacers, Brooks spoke about the need to plug Mahinmi into the rotation.

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“That’s going to be the art of coaching right now, trying to figure out how we integrate Ian [Mahinmi] in without having a lot of practices,” Brooks said.

“The practice that we have, we can’t throw all the lineups that he might play into the game – we have to focus on maybe one or two. It’s going to be a process.”

Mahinmi has scored just two points in 25 minutes of action since returning from the most recent setback.

But Brooks is still impressed by the way he’s impacted the game.

“I like his minutes,” Brooks said. “He does a lot of good things. He does a lot of winning basketball plays that you really don’t see unless you focus on what he does. The subtleties of the game are what he brings to our team.”

Brooks said that Mahinmi will continue to play around 13 minutes per game until he gets in better shape and the coaching staff gets more of a feel for his game.

Unfortunately, this was going to be a problem for the Washington Wizards, even if Mahinmi didn’t miss most of the season with knee issues.

Washington signed Mahinmi with the intention of regaining their defensive identity, but failed to recognize that his role would be minimized by Gortat, who needs to remain in the starting lineup and get most of the minutes.

Next: Four Potential Wizards Trade Deadline Deals

The NBA Trade Deadline is right around the corner and the Wizards likely wish they could get a mulligan on the Mahinmi signing, which has arguably been the worst of the summer. Brooks didn’t put the team together, but it’s on him to figure it out.

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