5 Moves the Washington Wizards should make in the 2019 offseason
The 2019 NBA free agency doors have opened and teams will be making their moves to sign and trade players. We've seen plenty of crazy off-seasons in the past years, but this could top all of them. Big names such as Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, and Kemba Walker have already signed big contracts while Kawhi Leonard's future will be decided very soon. It's hard to imagine the Washington Wizards will be able to make any sort of huge moves as they have their own share of issues with contracts.
With John Wall carrying a big salary cap, possibly not playing this upcoming season, to issues with big man Ian Mahinmi who holds a salary cap that doesn't prove his worth, the Wizards are in deep trouble for now. They managed to fire long-time general manager Ernie Grunfeld in April, which Wizards fans celebrated to as they were handcuffed to his decision-making process since 2003. However, the Wizards didn't do much to find their next GM outside the organization, so it seems like things will stay internally.
There have been calls for Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis to sell the team and move forward. With years of embarrassment and showing promises, in the end, the Wizards are a mediocre team at best. Now that the Eastern Conference is open to any team to potentially lead, it's hard to not believe how this team cannot move forward to the playoffs. This could be the year that shows whether they have the potential or is it time to scrap all of it and restart.
Nonetheless, the Wizards can still make some moves to help bolster this team that needs a lot of help. Here are 5 moves that I believe the Washington Wizards organization should make.
#1 Another season, another question mark at center
On one hand, the team still has to unload the disastrous contract of Ian Mahinmi. In the 34 games that he played this past season, he made close to $16 million. He is making close to that same amount this season, which should not happen considering he has not contributed well to the team since he signed with Washington back in 2016.
Last year, I wrote how Marcin Gortat needed to be released and the Wizards should sign a big man who can play both offense and defense. The Wizards did trade Gortat to Clippers and later signed Dwight Howard to a 2-year deal. We saw him play just 9 games in the 2018 season and it is now unclear how his rehab is going.
After Howard was shut down for the season, we saw Thomas Bryant, the young man who the Wizards claimed off waivers last season show us the potential he has. Bryant was resigned this year on a 3-year $25 million contract which although a bit pricey, could turn out to be a bargain if Bryant is able to live up to his potential upside. If Howard is ready to start the season, Bryant would be a good backup to him.