Washington Wizards need to solve their guard logjam

The Washington Wizards were one of the most active teams in the NBA this offseason, reshaping their roster to make it younger and more dynamic. They succeeded in their efforts but the Wizards roster still needs balancing. Despite the solid depth of young players at every position, there is a logjam at guard positions that needs to be solved before the season.

With the addition of Ryan Rollins who has performed very well at the Summer League, there are too many players deserving of regular minutes at point guard and shooting guard next season. It behooves the Wizards to move a few players from the backcourt rotation to open up more playing time for the rest of the players.

The starting point guard will likely be Tyus Jones next season. He is a crucial piece to set the table offensively for the Wizards. Jordan Poole is guaranteed to start and play around 35 minutes per game for Washington at the shooting guard position.

This leaves seven players to compete for the backup minutes: Johnny Davis, Delon Wright, Landry Shamet, Ryan Rollins, Bilal Coulibaly, Corey Kispert, and Quenton Jackson.

Kispert and Coulibaly will likely play significant minutes at the small forward, so there will certainly be enough minutes for them. However, the rest of the players will have an uphill battle for playing time.

Davis and Rollins desperately need playing time to develop. Fortunately for the Wizards, they are combo guards that can play either position, giving coach Wes Unseld Jr some roster flexibility. Quenton Jackson has the physical and athletic tools to potentially be a solid two-way guard, so he is worth a look as well.

The players that are most likely to be squeezed out of the rotation and therefore candidates to be traded are Delon Wright and Landry Shamet. Wright is already rumored to be Charlotte Hornets’ trade target, while Shamet is reportedly on Miami Heat’s radar.

It makes sense to move both players before the season since the lack of playing time early in the season might decrease their trade value in a mid-season trade.

In return, the Wizards should look to get frontcourt players instead of more guards. Ideally, the Wizards get no players in return, it helps shed salary, opens up playing time, and fixes the roster crunch issue they are facing right now. Let’s see if the Wizards front office can accomplish that.