Washington Wizards: Wizards don’t have a magic wand, idea for roster change
After their first-round exit the Washington Wizards will have to make some changes this offseason in order to have a better postseason.
The Washington Wizards 2017-18 season did not end as many expected. However, no one expected John Wall to miss 41 games or Otto Porter, Jr. to miss the pivotal Game 6 of the Raptors Series.
So no need for me to point fingers because that will not help solve the problem. Although there may be a myriad of problems, let’s break them down one-by-one. This idea will focus on the backup positions.
Wall said, that he wants to add ‘weapons around him’, which means adding money that’s not there right now. Therefore, I’m going to throw out a proposal.
Going into the season the Wizards did not have a reliable rim protector nor a big who could defend other bigs out on the perimeter.
Before the season started, Marcin Gortat said, that he’s not going to change the way he plays. Right or wrong, he stood by his choice not to adapt and to be who he is. Cannot fault someone for telling you well in advance their game plan and sticking to it.
Therefore, the blame is not entirely on him.
Last summer, no one asked Gortat to add the three to his repertoire, but he should have at least worked on defending the three-point line.
Just like no one even expected Dwight Howard to become better at the free throw line. Yet, Howard did what he does best and that’s battle in the paint and get buckets.
Howard finished the season with another double-double, averaging 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. Not saying that he would have fit in Washington. Rather, he was a productive member of his team.
Howard didn’t adapt either. Nonetheless, he did his job.
Gortat, on the other hand, ended the season averaging 8.4 points and 7.4 rebounds. Bigs do not fear him on the inside nor the outside.
For this offseason, Gortat said, that he’s going to work on his tan and abs. Of course, the statement may be tongue-in-cheek.
But there were too many times where he hung his head low this season or disappeared.
The Wizards are tied financially with some heavy contracts, so they don’t have a lot of wiggle room to get another star. But they can find the diamonds in the rough. There’s another Mike Scott waiting to get another chance.
If Gortat really wants to stay in Washington, although he’s not Kevin Durant, he can take a slight haircut. That’s right. Shed just a slight bit of his contract money that’s due to help Wizards sign other players. But that may not be feasible for the Polish Hammer.
However, the three other players who can also take a haircut includes the franchise-player Wall, Bradley Beal and Porter.
There’s the goodwill which helps with taxes, and then there’s the plain goodwill that will help you towards your goal of not being in the same position next postseason.
If at least two of the max players decided to take a slight haircut, since it’s not the final year of their contract, they can recoup it later down the line.
The haircut money can go towards signing an adequate backup center or shooting guard. Granted it would be a one-year deal.
This is just an idea to add to the myriad of ideas, that the front office is kicking around right now.