The Wizards could have an enormous amount of cap space in 2024 offseason
By Cem Yolbulan
The most significant part of the return the Washington Wizards got in the Bradley Beal trade is salary cap relief. Instead of paying Beal an average of over $50 million annually for the next four years, the Wizards received Chris Paul and Landry Shamet, whose contracts are non-guaranteed after this season.
Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis have player options for next season. Porzingis is likely to pick up the option, and Kuzma is a prime sign & trade candidate. There is a decent chance that neither of these players will be a Wizard past next season.
The Wizards’ salary cap is as clean as it can possibly be going forward
There are almost no big, long-term salaries in Washington’s books, except for Daniel Gafford, who has 3 years, and $39 million remaining on his deal. The other players who are under contract for the 2024-25 season are Johnny Davis and Corey Kispert, who have team options, and the Wizards could easily trade them for a positive return. Even if they want to keep him long-term, the Wizards’ books are as clean as any team in the NBA, and that is a good place to start a rebuild.
This would mean Washington could potentially have about $100 million, an obscene amount, of cap space in the summer of 2024. This is a number high enough to sign two max-level free agents, as well as bring back Porzingis if desired.
The Wizards could target high-end free agents next offseason
Some potential free agents that Washington could potentially be interested in the 2024 offseason are; Jaylen Brown, Domantas Sabonis, and Pascal Siakam. There are also names like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Demar Derozan, but considering the timeline of their rebuild, the Wizards will most likely not prefer going for these older stars.
Even if the Wizards fail to attract premier free agents, they can use their cap space to gather assets. They could facilitate trades to absorb big salaries contending teams are trying to get rid of in exchange for promising young players or future draft assets. They can also use their full mid-level exception or more to target younger free agents to become part of their long-term core.
This level of cap space gives the Wizards much-needed flexibility. The new front office under GM Michael Winger will have a multitude of options in terms of free agency and trade market thanks to the new-found salary cap relief. It will be fascinating to see what they end up doing with it.
