Should the Washington Wizards trade Marcin Gortat?
By Osman Baig
Do the Wizards have a backup plan if they trade the Hammer?
Washington seemingly may have been preparing for such a scenario when the Wizards signed Ian Mahinmi and Jason Smith to multi-year contracts last offseason. Ian Mahinmi’s contract in particular, a 4-year/$64M contract does not seem like a contract for a backup player, considering he was also coming off a season where he played in and started 71 games for the Indiana Pacers in ’15-’16.
Ian’s season however was marred by injuries as he missed 50 of the first 51 games of the season with issues to his knee. When he finally seemed to be in gear and ready to be a major contributor in the post-season, he suffered a strained calf in the second to last game of the regular season at Detroit.
In terms of health, it’s difficult to know if Ian can be relied upon. In his four seasons prior to joining the Wizards he averaged 72 games played, but in those games only played 19.1 minutes per game.
Gortat is an ironman, a constant who can be relied upon. Ian is more of a gamble in that regard.
On the court however, Ian was beginning to prove why the Wizards aggressively pursued him in free agency. In the 20 games played prior to sustaining the calf injury versus Detroit, Ian was averaging 6.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and was shooting 64.3% from the field.
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He was active defensively averaging 1.2 steals per game and was a better matchup for Washington versus teams who used a lot of screen and roll or teams with athletic bigs.
The Wizards also have Jason Smith who had a career year shooting the basketball for the Wizards. He shot 52.9% from the field and 47.4% from the 3-point line on 78 attempts.
Jason’s 37 made 3-pointers were more than he had made in his entire career prior to joining the Wizards. While it’s safe to assume the shooting percentage will come back down to earth, it’s also fair to assume that Jason will become increasingly comfortable shooting from behind the arc and provide that stretch element at the 5 position.
The depth is there to trade Marcin if necessary, although it would leave Washington thin in the case that Ian Mahinmi had to miss any time to an injury. That being said, the Wizards have no reason to just trade Marcin Gortat for the sake of it and likely would add an insurance policy in some fashion if he were to be moved, either thru that trade or in free agency.
The Washington Wizards need to improve the roster to build upon the success of this season. It’s unfortunate that other missteps may have led the Wizards here, but after losing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in three of the last four years, status quo is not good enough.
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Based on financial limitations in place, Washington’s best chance to make an improvement may point back towards the Polish Hammer. The result of prior moves and not having a first round pick in the coming draft, the Wizards will have a tough choice this offseason. If that is the case, maybe the relationship between Marcin Gortat and the Washington Wizards has run its course.