Washington Wizards: Five Lessons From 2015 NBA Free Agency

5) Diversify the free agent strategy

Washington spent two years planning #KD2DC and it’s pretty much over.  

With Washington not even securing a meeting with Durant this summer, it’s time for the team to move on, as the fans certainly have.  

In a fantasy world, which debating potential free agent signings technically is, the Washington Wizards would win 50+ games, compete with Cleveland for the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017, and prove enough to entice Durant to come next summer.  

Of course that is not a reasonable expectation at this moment, and the Wizards need to not only have a plan B and C, but need to put them into motion early in free agency.

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Sitting out of free agency with a team of six players is not an option, and the team needs to show current and prospective players that it respects their sacrifices along the way.  

Putting all your “eggs” in the bring X superstar bucket really tells your current players and coaches what you think about the prospects of them making a run.

Because we can now move on from Durant, we may actually have a leg up on many of the teams meeting with Durant.

Usually, free agent signings happen in order of the player’s ability, with the big domino (Durant) falling, then the other players signing quickly thereafter.  

One potential max target, Hassan Whiteside, has already said he is planning to decide on a new team on July 1st, the first day teams can meet with players, meaning that one of the first teams to meet with him will most likely have the best chance at a signing.

If management really wants him or other similarly talented players (Al Horford), they need to be aggressive early on.

All of this is certainly easier said than done, with around 22 teams having enough cap space to sign a max player, but Washington has so many needs that they really don’t have time to sit around and play the waiting game.  

Management has been making alternative plans for this summer for a while, and should have a long list of players that they’d love to bring aboard, unlike the list for this year’s draft.  

Additionally, it’s reasonable to expect that the roster will fill out with a few undrafted players from Summer League, or veterans that join the team for training camp.  

The venting from the fans is some of the highest I’ve seen since GunGate and can certainly be expected with how the team performed on and off the court this past season.  

Hopefully, Grunfeld and his group have done their homework and are prepared for the nonstop, 24/7 two weeks that are the beginning of free agency.  

I can say I’m very excited as the team hasn’t been especially active in free agency since Wall was drafted, but am still hesitant knowing that it will be extremely competitive and our resume is up and down.  

Next: Top 10 Offseason Plans for Washington

We can still hope for a star player to come and return the team to the performance of two years ago, and if they follow some of these steps and show improvements, I hope I won’t have to play Captain Hindsight this time next year.