3 FIBA World Cup standouts the Washington Wizards should consider signing
By Cem Yolbulan
Arturs Zagars
The Washington Wizards don’t necessarily need another point guard on their roster for next season, but what Arturs Zagars of Latvia did in the FIBA World Cup was so electrifying that the Wizards would be foolish not to give him a look. Plus, he is only 23 years old and can be considered a long-term project.
What could make this signing more feasible is the fact that the Wizards and Zagars are already familiar with each other. Zagars was on the Wizards’ Las Vegas Summer League roster in 2022 and played in 4 games. But, it wasn’t until this summer that he broke out and made a name for himself.
The 6’3 point guard averaged 12.4 points and 7.4 assists in 25.2 minutes per game for Latvia. More impressively, he broke the all-time tournament record for most assists in a game when he dished out 17 assists in a game against Lithuania. He can shoot, score, pass, and make plays for himself and his teammates.
Perhaps most importantly, he is a free agent. After finishing last season playing for Nevezis Kedainiai of the Lithuanian Basketball League, he currently doesn’t have a team. He obviously put both NBA and European teams on blast with his breakout performance this summer, and the Washington Wizards should be one of those teams to consider giving him the last two-way spot. It is a low-risk, high-reward type of move that the Wizards should make more often now that they have entered a new developmental phase.
