Washington Wizards Mailbag Monday: Coaching, free agents, and more!

2. Who will the Wizards add with their MLE?

Another great question from @ludo_sp. I really love this question, in part because I’m a salary cap nerd.

So as most of us know, the Washington Wizards do not have a lot of cap space to play with this summer. What little space they do have, they will end up using all of it in the attempt to bring Davis Bertans back.

So if you are not aware, the MLE (Mid Level Exception) is granted to teams who are over the salary cap but have not yet hit the hard tax apron. The projection for the MLE this summer is going to be in the ballpark of $9.5 million which the Wizards can use in a variety of ways and theoretically does not have to all be used on one player.

Sticking with the question though there are a few guys who I have in mind. If I were the GM, I would be focusing on a veteran wing in free agency who brings a defensive presence. With the Washington Wizards bringing back a majority of their team from this season, scoring should not be an issue.

With a team that is looking to get back into the playoff picture, Washington is currently ranked 22nd in team defense, and will need a spark defensively. With the point guard, power forward and center positions locked up for the most part, a wing is probably what’s needed.

So with that, my dream get with the MLE right now is Maurice Harkless. Currently with the Knicks, Harkless has shown over the years that he can be a lockdown defender. At 6’8 Harkless is a long armed defender who can guard multiple positions and whose wingspan is also a whopping 7’2.

Going into what will be his 9th season at age 27, Harkless also has a lot of playoff experience after his years in Portland where he saw a lot of important minutes. Outside of his ability to defend, Harkless is a good slasher which will be important when the Wizards stretch the floor out with the likes of Bertans, Wagner and Jerome Robinson in the second unit.

A defensive-minded wing is the type of guy the Wizards need and Harkless will most likely be available and may not even cost the full MLE. If he is not the answer, there are a few other names that would be interesting such as Evan Turner and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who I really wanted the Wiz to go after last summer.

Tristan Thompson may be out of MLE price range, but if they could squeeze him in there that would be interesting as well but I don’t know if that happens. The MLE is pretty much all the Wizards have to chase free agents but with that there are still a few guys out there who would be very important adds to a team trying to get back into the playoff hunt.