Washington Wizards Mailbag Monday: Why Marcin Gortat Could Be Traded In The Off-Season

When a team is struggling, like the Washington Wizards currently are, the fans look for a scapegoat.

Under normal circumstances, the head coach would get the brunt of the blame. But since Scott Brooks is in contention for Coach of the Year, a player will unfortunately take heat for poor play. Over the past few weeks, it’s been Marcin Gortat.

Gortat is a system player. When the team’s offense is clicking, Gortat is involved and putting up double-doubles. He’s not the type of player that can command the ball inside and score on his own. He’s completely dependent on others, in this case, Wall. To make matters worse, Gortat isn’t known for his rim protection, so his production is kind of nullified if he’s not scoring.

Ian Mahinmi is different because he can make game-changing plays. Even if he scores just 6 points off the bench, there’s a solid chance the points came from put-back dunks or lobs. Those plays make a difference, moreso than pick-and-rolls.

Gortat is 33 years old and Mahinmi is 30. Gortat has two years left on his deal and Mahinmi has three. Having two high-salaried centers on a roster doesn’t make any sense in today’s NBA and Mahinmi has a game that translate more to the modern style. He’s defensive-minded and low-key effective on offense.

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And if the Washington Wizards want to retain Porter and Bogdanovic, they’ll need to clear up some space. Moving Gortat was probably on the Wizards’ mind when they signed Mahinmi. Eventually, his time in D.C. will come to an end. This summer seems likely, if they do end up trading him.