NBA free agency began on Monday night, and it has been a wild one. Nothing will ever compare to the madness that was the summer of 2019, but there have still been some exciting moves made.
So far the most surprising move has been Myles Turner signing with the Milwaukee Bucks a few days after losing Game 7 of the Finals with the Indiana Pacers, the team he’s been with his entire career.
That move came paired with what could end up being one of the most catastrophic decisions by an NBA team in recent memory: the Bucks waived and stretched Damian Lillard, meaning they’ll pay the $100-plus million left on his contract over the next several seasons, handicapping their flexibility.
Other signings and trades have slightly shifted the balance of power across the league. The Denver Nuggets added Cam Johnson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jonas Valanciunas, and fan-favorite Bruce Brown, while the Rockets sniped Dorian Finney-Smith from the Lakers, who will continue sitting on their hands until they inevitably sign DeAndre Ayton.
My apologies for burying the lede here, but the only team sitting on their hands more than the Lakers so far in free agency has been the Washington Wizards. Washington’s lone transaction of the offseason was waiving Anthony Gill a few days ago, and they have missed out on a number of veteran free agents
In recent columns and articles, I have been hammering home that Washington needs to try and actually build a team rather than stunt their rebuild by just throwing 24-and-under players out there to figure it out. They missed a number of opportunities to sign vets that could have balanced out their team or even replaced some of the vets they have now.
I like Khris Middleton and CJ McCollum a lot and have the utmost respect for all they’ve accomplished in their careers, but part of me worries their “shoot first, shoot second” play styles might make them clunky fits on this rebuilding Wizards team.
I would have liked to see the Wizards pursue some more specialist-type players who would naturally cede star player duties to the Wizards’ young core.
Point guard Dennis Schroder (who signed with the Sacramento Kings) and defensive specialist Nickeil Alexander-Walker (who signed with the Atlanta Hawks) are two players who I think would have fit well on the Wizards.
The same goes for Luke Kennard, who also signed with the Hawks and engineered one of the most ridiculous comebacks of all time against the Wizards in 2022 (which I covered for my school paper back then).
It’s time for the Wizards to wake up and sign someone. All of the team’s veterans other than Marcus Smart are shoot-first players, and there are some critical gaps (namely defense) on this Wizards roster.