The trade deadline has come and gone, and after a surprising move to acquire Kristaps Porzingis, the Washington Wizards find themselves in a familiar place: in need of a true starting point guard.
With all due respect to Ish Smith, the Wizards don’t have a difference-making floor general on the court. A few of us are clamoring for Point Deni, others think we should tear it down altogether. For the purposes of this article, we’re going to ignore those specific factions for now.
With Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma, and Porzingis, the Wizards have real offensive fire-power in the starting lineup. Just as the Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, and Miami Heat found a new ceiling with Chris Paul, Jrue Holiday, and Kyle Lowry, the Wizards are in desperate need of a floor general.
So, who are their options this summer? The answer could be below.
Underwhelming* Cap-Friendly Veterans
Ricky Rubio
Delon Wright
Dennis Schröder
Rajon Rondo
Cory Joseph
Tomas Satoransky
Goran Dragic
John Wall*
How many of us are left thinking about what John Wall could accomplish with a unicorn-like Porzingis by his side? Unless he takes a buyout with the Rockets and can bury the hatchet with Tommy Sheppard, we can just put that one to rest right now.
Rubio, like Spencer Dinwiddie this year, will be coming off a significant injury, so that might not be the best course of action for the Wizards to take. Wright and Joseph add shooting to a starved position, but do they make the players around them better? Rondo and Satoransky are smart with the ball and savvy playmakers, but do they move the needle for the Wizards? Probably not enough to win next year.
When it comes to really elevating the point guard position, the Wizards are probably better off looking elsewhere.