Washington Wizards: 5 Needed Roster Moves

The Washington Wizards need to overhaul their roster in order to compete in the East, here are some of roster moves they need to make.

The Washington Wizards are in a position as a franchise where they have to make a number of moves on their roster to get them back into the playoffs. With no picks in the 2016 draft, they need to either trade or tempt some players to sign via free agency.

Below are five moves that the Wizards need to make to improve their roster.

Re-sign Ramon Sessions

Ramon Sessions is an underrated point guard who comes in behind superstar John Wall on most nights and does a really good job running the second unit. The rare games that Wall misses, Sessions steps up and shows what he is capable of.

In the five games at the end of the season when Wall did not play, Sessions averaged 17.6 points per game with a slash line of 55/46/84. On top of this Sessions also had 9.6 assists per game.

Improving the pivot

Marcin Gortat was arguably Washington’s second-best player last year. In 75 games, Gortat averaged 13.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. More than that he was the only reliable center for Washington who could compete at that position.

After Nene, who is struggling with age and injury, Washington really had no one. Al Horford and Al Jefferson are both unrestricted free agents and either of them will improve Washington’s front court.

Another reliable option who would back up Gortat is Jared Sullinger, who is a solid and dependable defensive minded center.

Then there is the risky option of Hassan Whiteside showed last year he has tremendous rebounding (11.8) and shot blocking (3.7), but his ability to disrupt team culture has to be a concern.

Get a reliable backcourt partner for Wall

Bradley Beal started to really show his class this year, taking some of the big shots that used to fall to Wall and making them. The problem is that Beal has never played a full season; injuries have kept him out for extended periods almost every season.

Beal missed 27 games last season, which is too many if Washington is going to make a run at the playoffs. Beal is an amazing talent and needs to be offered up as trade bait to help Washington improve.

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Nicolas Batum, Jeremy Lin, Joe Johnson or Gerald Green are all viable options whose bodies will hold up better than Beal’s.

Improve the Power Forward rotation

Behind Markieff Morris there are not a whole lot of options at power forward. Two of the better players on the market are Jon Leuer and Mirza Teletovic. However, with the Phoenix connection, how would either of these two respond to playing with Morris again?

The best fit for Washington in the free agency market is Derrick Williams. The high energy New York Knick would fit well with Wall’s up-tempo style of play. David Lee is also a potential fit with his scoring and rebounding.

Improve the bench depth

With the exception of Sessions and promising rookie Kelly Oubre Jr, the Washington bench is not strong. With the free agent class of 2016, Washington has a tremendous opportunity to improve.

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They will most probably not be in the running Kevin Durant or LeBron James but there is room in the Washington system for a young player to come on board and make a name for themselves or an older veteran to re-establish his career.

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5 Roster Moves Washington Wizards Need To Make

By Matthew Hallett | May 26, 2016