Washington Wizards Mailbag Monday: 2016 Free Agency Plans and More

The summer is upon us and the Washington Wizards have their eyes set on an interesting free agency. What will the Wizards do? I answered your questions

A lot has occurred since the last time we’ve posted a Mailbag Monday.

Donald Trump is a legitimate candidate to become leader of the free world, Ernie Grunfeld signed a double-lifetime contract to remain emperor of the Washington Wizards (he also found the fountain of youth, so there’s that) and Randy Wittman started a basketball league without a 3-point line.

The summer is long, but basketball never stops.

While the Wizards failed to make the NBA Playoffs and the disappointment flooded our bodies, the real fun is about to begin.

The Wizards have a lot of cap space, a new coach and John Wall. Things actually aren’t the bad.

So, I decided to do another edition of the Mailbag.

Thanks for participating.

Hey, Charlie!

Am I – Ben Mehic – confident in Otto Porter as the starting small forward? Absolutely. But, that’s just because I have an irrational amount of confidence in the slender-bodied Hoya.

Otto is coming off his most productive season and it’s important to note that it’s the first year he received legitimate playing time. Plus, the Washington Wizards were kind of a mess. The fact that he was occasionally the team’s best player during a disappointing season is encouraging.

Porter made over 47 percent of his shots despite weighing 145 pounds and lacking a consistent outside shot. That’s also impressive.

He also shot a respectable 37 percent from three. After the All-Star break he was knocking down 45 percent of his shots from deep.

Otto can shoot, Charlie. It’s just a matter of taking more of those shots. He can become a high-volume 3-point shooter and I think he will.

Nemanja Bjelica, who signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves after having an MVP caliber season in the Euroleague, got close to the mid-level exception after finally deciding to come to the NBA.

Since the salary cap is going to skyrocket and the mid-level won’t be worth much – yes, Tomas Satoransky is certainly worth it.

Washington will have to find out what Satoransky can do at the next level because they’ve invested too much at this point. He’s 6’7″, can play multiple positions and the Wizards have a hole to fill at point guard.

Ramon Sessions might make more money than Satoransky (and really, most serviceable point guards will), so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Given the context of the situation, the mid-level won’t hurt the Wizards at all.

Otto is entering the final season of his contract and the Washington Wizards have a decision to make: pay him a lot of money to stick around or let him walk. That’s partially the reason they drafted Kelly Oubre.

If the Otto situation doesn’t work out and the Wizards somehow land a top wing player during free agency, paying him $10+ million annually won’t make much sense. Oubre is still on his rookie deal and will be for the next few seasons.

There’s a chance Porter loses his spot just because there’s a chance he won’t be in Washington. If he does end up being a long-term player, though, I don’t think Oubre will take his spot. He’s only 20-years-old and needs to develop. He’s the perfect player to groom off the bench as of right now and probably two years from now too.

I’m not sure if it would be the “ultimate #soWizards,” but it would certainly be up there. That’s actually a good idea. Someone should do a #soWizards ranking. But I’d be worried about the potential consequences. There’s no way an emotional Wizards writer can make it through that ordeal alive.

Look, we’re all rooting against the Oklahoma City Thunder just because we’re holding onto the slim chance of Kevin Durant coming to the Washington Wizards.

If he ends up winning that series, we almost have to cheer for him. What an accomplishment that would be – to beat the 73-win Golden State Warriors in a seven game series.

By all accounts, Durant seems like a terrific dude too. Whether he comes to D.C. or not, he still genuinely cares about the DMV area.

Now that I think about it, Durant not coming to D.C. after winning a championship wouldn’t be #soWizards at all. That’s completely out of their control. It’s only #soWizards if the team had direct influence, like, drafting Jan Vesely over Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson. That’s #soWizards.

For the sake of answering this question, let’s assume Satoransky decides he never wants to play for the Washington Wizards and he’s not an option this summer.

There are going to be plenty of combo-guard type options, and Ward Watkins actually just wrote a pretty lengthy column on the available free agents.

Instead of signing a traditional point guard, the Wizards should target a combo/point-guard, if that makes sense.

Players like Seth Curry or Ian Clark, for instance, could play both guard spots and they’re efficient. Washington probably can’t afford to bring Sessions back and those would be very solid, versatile replacements.

Here’s a list of other potential options:

• Ty Lawson
• Raymond Felton
• D.J. Augustin
• Mo Williams
• Aaron Brooks
• Markel Brown
• Norris Cole
• Tim Frazier
• Ray McCallum
• E’Twaun Moore
• Greivis Vasquez

This is undoubtedly the most commonly asked question and it has been for months now.

The Washington Wizards have options this summer. They’re going to pursue Durant, and if they strike out, they could still get another game-changing player. They will still have enough cap room to sign a player to a max contract.

They could pursue another wing player – Harrison Barnes, Nicolas Batum or DeMar DeRozan. They could pursue an elite big man – Al Horford, Dwight Howard or Hassan Whiteside.

Washington could also fill out their team with solid, depth players – Evan Fournier, Ryan Anderson, Jeff Green and/or Evan Turner.

In terms of who they will actually pursue, no one knows. We have all assumed that they will make a call to Batum’s agent. But, again, no one really knows. Grunfeld does a good job of keeping the cards close to his chest during the trade deadline and free agency.

I think they should “look” at the options, but I’m not 100 percent certain they should pull the trigger. Players like Howard and Bismack Biyombo might be more interesting names, but they aren’t necessarily better than Marcin Gortat.

Gortat isn’t flashy at all, but he more than gets the job done. He’s a solid defender, he rebounds well and he’s one of the best pick-and-roll bigs in the NBA. Would it be nice if he was more athletic and protected the rim more? Sure. But every single big you mentioned is flawed too.

Howard, Whiteside and Biyombo would all be significantly worse than Gortat offensively. Washington doesn’t have many options on that end. Gortat and Wall have built great chemistry and that cannot be replicated with offensively-challenged bigs.

Next: Cheap, Young Free Agents the Wizards Could Pursue

They should consider it because Gortat is 32-years-old, but that’s the only reason. He’s just as good as the other bigs you mentioned, but lacks their upside.