Washington Wizards: Top 5 Kevin Durant Alternatives For 2016 Free Agency
By Osman Baig
Washington Wizards: Top 5 Kevin Durant Alternatives
With the return of Nene and Gary Neal to practice, things seem to be going in the right direction for the Washington Wizards…kind of.
Getting healthy as a team is never a bad thing, but the Wizards should be beyond the point of thinking health will change their fate in the conference. The verdict is in. Over their past 82 regular season games, the Washington Wizards are 38-44 — a .463 winning percentage. That is not indicative of an Eastern Conference Finals team.
Hypothetically? Sure. If the Washington Wizards core from last year and new additions to the roster ever had a sustained stretch of healthy, chemistry building basketball, they might be able to make a push in an Eastern Conference where there is Cleveland, then everybody else.
The problem lies in the players who have been on the shelf and unavailable.
Bradley Beal, Nene, Drew Gooden, Alan Anderson, Gary Neal, and DeJuan Blair were all unavailable for the Washington Wizards’ 97-75 loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday evening. The problem with using their injuries as an excuse or their return as the foundation of a turnaround is that four of the six players missing, Nene (33-years-old), Drew Gooden (34), Alan Anderson (33) and Gary Neal (31) are all on the wrong side of 30.
Expecting a group with an average age of near 33 to be healthy is a mistake as there’s no guarantee that when they do return, they stay on the court (see Drew Gooden’s return last week). Add to that Nene and Bradley Beal’s injury history and counting on this group with 50 games to go seems wildly optimistic at best and simply irrational at worst.
This takes us back to an ongoing, underlying theme that this season seems to have brought into focus: the need for the Washington Wizards to compliment John Wall with additional reinforcements.
Wall, the recently named Eastern Conference Player of the Month of December, had a dominant month averaging 22.6 points, 11.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals. That dominant month amounted to a .500 month (8-8).
The roster needs to be built up outside of growth from within by Kelly Oubre Jr. and Otto Porter or health (and improved play) from Bradley Beal. Free agency may be where those reinforcements for John Wall (and Marcin Gortat) come from.
With a look ahead to free agency in the Summer of Kevin Durant, we take a look at several options for the Washington Wizards this summer not including the local hero currently residing in Oklahoma City.
Harrison Barnes
The 23-year-old forward from Golden State represents an intriguing free agent, one that Grantland speculated could be the most intriguing free agent of 2016 in a September article.
Harrison Barnes is averaging a career high in points (12.9) and field goal percentage (51.1) in a complimentary role playing for the machine known as the Golden State Warriors. His restricted free agency status makes his free agency a little more difficult to project as Golden State may be reluctant to match a max free agent offer which Barnes may easily secure given the cap increase coupled with the number of teams with cap space.
As the Grantland article surmises, Harrison Barnes will be intriguing on the market based on perceived upside. Is he a complimentary player dependent on others to produce or is he ready to make the leap?
As a fit on Washington, Barnes’ versatility and ability to play either forward position, athleticism, defensive ability, and proven ability to at minimum be a solid complimentary player for a good team makes him a safe target with the intrigue of untapped potential.
Nicolas Batum
The 27-year-old small forward for the Charlotte Hornets is having a career year after a down year in Portland prior to his departure via trade.
Nicolas Batum would signify an attempt by the Washington Wizards to replicate what they had in Trevor Ariza — a high quality 3-and-D player who at 6’8″ can likely spend some time manning the power forward spot as the NBA shifts to pace-and-space basketball.
Otto Porter has not developed into the defender the Wizards likely would have hoped and Kelly Oubre Jr. has shown flashes of defensive prowess, but is still only 20-years old and would be tough to rely upon as a designated defender against a position so often which represents the opposition’s best scorers.
Al Horford
Likely to be one of the most heavily pursued free agents next summer, Al Horford would be a good fit for the Washington Wizards.
The reason he’s not higher on this list: age. Horford will be 30-years old prior to next season and while he still should have a lot of juice left in the tank, he would be entering his 10th season next year and coming off several seasons of a plateau if not slight decline in his numbers.
The concern would be how many more productive seasons you could get out of Horford. Even though he would represent a shift from small-ball, his improvement from the 3-point line and his ability to shift to the center position when Marcin Gortat sits mitigates that issue.
DeMar DeRozan
The 26-year-old shooting guard from the Toronto Raptors has a player option for 2016-2017, but at a scheduled $9.5 million for the 2016-2017 season, he’s undoubtedly opting out.
DeMar DeRozan is an interesting name on this list because he plays a position where the Washington Wizards have a talented young player in Bradley Beal. That being said, at 6’7″ DeMar DeRozan should be more than capable of swinging to the small forward position.
DeRozan is playing career best basketball averaging 22.5 points, 4.1 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game on 54.9% TS, a career high. He is not the best fit for the Wizards based on his 3-point shooting (29.5%), but he would provide the Wizards something they sorely lack — a player who can create offense for himself without being dependent on John Wall.
He also gets to the free throw line often, averaging 8.4 attempts per game thus far this season. If the Washington Wizards swing and miss on Kevin Durant, the paradigm has to shift from best fit, to best players with the onus on the coaches to get the talent to mesh. Depending on John Wall and a team full of players dependent on him for offense is not fair to the point guard and isn’t a formula that likely has the ultimate upside of a championship trophy.
Hassan Whiteside
The 26-year-old find by the Miami Heat will undoubtedly be one of this summer’s most pursued free agents.
The shot blocker extraordinaire made a big impression on the Washington Wizards this past weekend with Marcin Gortat calling him the “best shot blocker I’ve seen in nine years.”
He’s helped spear a Miami defense ranked third in the NBA in defensive efficiency and 2nd in ppg allowed. Center isn’t the biggest roster need but given Gortat’s age (32 this February), the Wizards can’t pass on the opportunity that pairing Whiteside with Wall can present if this option were to be available.
Next: Why the Wizards Should Save Boogie From Sacramento
Who should the Washington Wizards pursue if their Kevin Durant pursuit doesn’t go according to plan? Are any of the names intriguing? Let us know in the comments section and on Twitter (@WizofAwes).