Ian Mahinmi joins the Washington Wizards Injury Party

Ian Mahinmi‘s injury makes it five of the Washington Wizards 13 players with guaranteed contracts are now sidelined with injuries.

The Washington Wizards announced Thursday that backup center, Ian Mahinmi, will be out six weeks due to a strained right achilles tendon. With C.J. Miles, John Wall, Troy Brown, and Isaiah Thomas already out for long periods of time because of injuries, the Wizards are running out of players to put on the court.

Mahinmi joined the Wizards in the summer of 2016, signing an absurd four year, $64 million deal. Wizards fans cannot wait until next Summer when he is off of the team’s payroll.

Mahinmi never lived up to his contract. He missed much of his first year in DC with knee injuries, playing in just 31 games. In the 2017-2018 season, he played in 77 games, but averaged only 4.8 points and 4.1 rebounds. Last season, he found himself playing in just 34 games because his poor play led to him riding the bench most of the time.

Now with Mahinmi out until at least the middle of November, his likely final season in the nation’s capital is already off to a poor start.

Ernie Grunfeld made plenty of mistakes in his 16 years as the Wizard’s general manager. However, signing Mahinmi to that ridiculous contract has to be one of his worst.

With Mahinmi out, the Wizards are not left with a lot of depth at center. Thomas Bryant remains a lock as the Wizards starting center after his breakout year last season. However, there are some question marks on who will be Bryant’s backup.

With Mahinmi out, Moritz (Moe) Wagner is the only other true center on the team. However, it remains to be seen if Wagner is ready to be thrown into the Wizard’s rotation right off the bat.

Wagner is entering his second year in the NBA. He was drafted in the first round by the Lakers at 25th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. Last season with the Lakers, Wagner only appeared in 43 games, averaging 4.8 points and 2 rebounds per game.

Wagner demonstrated he has talent in the Wizard’s Summer League, but it is very raw. He was not able to make the German National Team’s roster for the FIBA World Cup, raising concerns on if he is ready to play a big role in the NBA.

If the Wizards feel as though they are not able to give Wagner a large amount of minutes, their only other real option is to slide Davis Bertans over to center.

Davis Bertans is a marksman three point shooter who can provide instant offense. However, he plays Power Forward, not Center. At 6-foot-11, Bertans has the height of a center, but may struggle defending in the paint against bigger bodies.

With all the injuries, it is next man up for the  Washington Wizards as they are going to have to rely on their young guys very early into the season.