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Nene: The Big Brazilian Dilemma For The Washington Wizards

By Nithin Kuchibhotla

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When the Washington Wizards acquired Nene from the Denver Nuggets prior to the 2012 trade deadline, the purpose was two-fold. For one, the Wizards needed desperately to put some veteran personnel around prized young guard John Wall after watching him toil away for two years on teams with little discernable maturity.

Secondly, the player Washington gave up in the trade, Javale McGee, was set to be a free agent that summer and would get a big offer sheet from elsewhere around the league despite a head-scratching combination of athleticism and cluelessness.

The decision to pull the trigger wasn’t a slam dunk though by any stretch. Nene had just inked a 5 year/$65 million contract the previous summer and the Nuggets were reportedly already experiencing buyer’s remorse in Year 1 of the deal. Nonetheless, the results were great as the Wizards benefited from his savvy passing, thunderous dunking and excellent low-post defense.

Fast forward three years and the DC landscape looks much different.

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Joining Wall on the perimeter are fellow blue chippers Bradley Beal and Otto Porter.

Marcin Gortat, acquired prior to the 2013-14 season, has assumed the role of alpha big man and future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce trumps any and all veteran presence previously found in the locker room.

But here’s where the awkwardness sets in.

The Wizards have advanced to the second round in the playoffs in consecutive years but seemed poised (and possibly expected) to take it at least one round further. To counter that goal, the franchise had always planned to stall on title contention until the summer of 2016, when it can make a serious courtship of hometown superstar Kevin Durant.

So should the team play for what’s guaranteed in the now (continued development of Wall/Beal/Porter) or punt on something great in order to bet on a murky future? At the center of this question stands the Big Brazilian. Just what exactly should be done with him?

To break this down a little further, Ernie Grunfeld and the Wizards’ front office set up most of the contracts around full cap flexibility in 2016, when Durant will be on the open market and Beal will be hitting restricted free agency.

While none of the players in question (Martell Webster, DeJuan Blair, Ramon Sessions, Nene) are expected to be on the roster come next summer, Washington has the option to move one of those players this year to help the team in the upcoming season.

Let’s assume the only desirable player of the list that can actually return something of worth is Nene. The catch becomes what can you offer an opposing general manager to make him bite? For the Wizards, that comes down to two options. Either sent out future draft picks or accept future salary.

I’ve mentioned how sacred the 2016 cap sheet is so of the two the former is definitely the preferred option. The Wizards stumbled to 46 wins after opening red-hot out of the gate and still landed at the 19th pick in last week’s draft.

Assuming an uptick in wins thanks to continued progression from the young guns and a sustained coaching epiphany from the playoffs for Randy Wittman, Washington may be picking as low as the early 20’s, an area that rarely cedes anything of worth.

However, in this day and age, the importance of young, cheap talent is becoming more evident than ever before.

As contracts are about to explode under the new salary cap, filling the roster with players who have slotted and affordable salaries will be critical to forming a deep team.

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Sure, giving up a late pick might not seem like a big deal now, but when it is Game 7 in the playoffs and the options off the bench are Austin Rivers or Lester Hudson, one might feel just a little differently.

The second possibility would be to take on salary past next year.

Obviously if a team is willing to trade for Nene, they’d like to remove some bloated assets from their books in order to be willing participants in the 2016 bonanza. Although most teams in the league will already have max cap space, those who are looking for a huge boost in production would look to add two or even three free agents at once.

For Washington, that proposition of unwanted assets is dicey. The Wizards are committed big money to Wall and Gortat and will have the impending Beal free agency to take care of (let’s hope they make the smart move and let him play out the 4th year before paying next summer) as well as a team option on Otto Porter, Year 2 of Kelly Oubre and potentially another rookie deal.

They should still be able to fit in a Durant max contract under a cap expected to be around $89 million but when considering free agent cap holds as well as adding other pieces to a team that needs able bodies on the court, every last dollar counts. They’ll be most definitely looking to avoid this route and may only be in talks for players with team options or non-guaranteed dollars in past next season.

Now let’s examine this from a basketball sense.

It’s pretty clear that Nene cannot be an NBA starter anymore on a serious playoff team. Although he’s a decent shooter (shot 39% from between 10 feet and the 3 point line), he can’t stretch the floor beyond the arc. He’s a good defender but stopped rebounding 2 years ago and isn’t the shot blocker you’d want in a rim protector.

He plays with aggression when he wants to (i.e. destroying Noah in the 2014 playoffs) yet mails it in when he’s just not feeling it (2014 series vs. Indiana and 2015 series vs. Atlanta). I’m always amazed by how much love Nene gets when he makes a good play. It’s almost like he hasn’t been the highest paid player on the team since he stepped foot in Verizon Center. I must be of the minority because I like the guys who make 8 figures to play hard and consistently from night to night.

Yes, in a vacuum, the answer is pretty clear that the Wizards would get better by moving him for someone like Danilo Galinari or Terrance Jones.

But this is the curveball kicker: say a trade does go down for an offensive minded stretch 4, what happens to Washington’s top-5 defense?

Who plays backup center in a unit that has been much-maligned for 3 years?

And most importantly, who puts Jimmy Butler in a headlock when he starts talking too much?

Here’s my reality about Nene. I’m not a huge fan at this point in his career.

I thank him for his service and helping turn the culture in DC around. But the way he’s used combined with his uneven effort makes it very tough for me to support him being anything more than a role player from here on out.

But all that being said, the Wizards just aren’t set up to move him at this point for all the reasons mentioned above. They shouldn’t give up future picks or dollars for a couple extra wins when that would represent a total shift in philosophy from what the last 3 years have set up to be.

That type of panic move is possible when ownership support doesn’t exist. But for better or worse, Ted Leonsis seems to be behind the vision of Grunfeld and Wittman. So this is the point in the plan where you exhaust all options that don’t include a shake-up.

Sign players with the trade exceptions and annual exceptions. There are options out there that can fortify the front line (and even start at PF) available for the MLE. Scour the veteran market for those who want to come along for the ride at the minimum. And for the love of God get someone who can spell Beal for even a few minutes.

Just don’t trade Nene. It won’t be worth it next year, and it might make everything they’ve planned for not possible the year after that. Let him play out the season as a really expensive backup, ride off in the sunset and hand his jersey and cap space to Durant, Al Horford, or whoever is willing to take that money.

After all of the rash decisions we’ve seen made over the years, we finally have an option to sit tight and let it all play it out. No it may not be the right call ultimately. But at this point it’s the smart one.

Next: Could Teletovic Solve The Wizards' Problem?

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