Washington Wizards: 2016 Offseason Grades

For better or worse, the Washington Wizards committed to their star backcourt for the long-term while also rounding out their bench. Here are their complete 2016 offseason grades.

A year ago, expectations were sky-high for the Washington Wizards. They were coming off back-to-back appearances in the Western Conference semifinals, their young backcourt duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal was growing with playoff experience and hometown hero Kevin Durant was set to join free agency the following summer.

The Wizards had positioned themselves a free agency suitors for a former MVP, and all they needed in 2015-16 was to put the roster’s potential on full display with another great season. Unfortunately, Washington finished the year with a 41-41 record, missing the playoffs entirely.

Years of planning went right out the window when the Wizards couldn’t even secure a meeting with Durant. Thanks to the Markieff Morris trade that cost Washington its first round pick, the front office was left to find other means of improving in free agency.

But how’d they do this summer? Did they do enough to get John Wall help, and did they make the right call on keeping their star backcourt intact? Here’s a look at the Washington Wizards’ complete 2016 offseason grades.

Next: Bank For Beal

Bank For Beal

When it came to Bradley Beal’s restricted free agency, the Wizards were caught between a rock and a hard place. They weren’t going to find a better shooting guard on the market, and when healthy, the 23-year-old Beal has shown signs of developing into a complementary star.

The only problem with Beal — other than he and John Wall supposedly disliking each other on the court, which came out after Beal’s extension — is that the poor guy just can’t seem to stay healthy. Over the first four years of his NBA career, he’s missed 26, nine, 19 and 27 games, respectively.

How are the Wizards supposed to build on their star backcourt if one of the foundational pieces isn’t structurally sound? And what if that weak support structure is constantly bickering with the other building block of the franchise?

The problem was, if Washington didn’t pony up for his services, some other team would’ve swooped in with a huge offer, leaving the Wizards empty-handed. They had to pay up. And they did, with a five-year, $128 million deal that represents a major gamble on the organization’s part.

On the one hand, Beal is a career 38.6 percent shooter from three-point range and has come to life in his only two playoff runs. “Playoff Bradley Beal” quickly became a thing in his first postseason run, averaging 19.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game on .425/.415/.796 shooting splits in 2013-14.

He upped those numbers to 23.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game the following year. in the playoffs. At this point, it seems like Beal is one healthy season away from establishing himself as one of the league’s top shooting guards and helping Washington take the next step.

On the other hand, it’s hard to take that step when your legs are constantly on the mend. To this point in his career, Beal’s on-court production hasn’t been substantial enough to warrant this kind of max deal, especially with his extensive injury history thrown in.

Remember, this is the same guy who admitted he may need to play the rest of his career on a minutes restriction…at age 22.

Beal’s annual average salary will be $25.6 million — equivalent to a $19.1 million salary under last year’s $70 million cap. If he and Wall really are clashing, this deal is going to look very bad — and be hard to move — when the inevitable split comes, since the Wizards should favor Wall if push comes to shove.

Last season, Beal averaged a career-high 17.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, shooting a career-high 44.9 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three-point range. Unfortunately, his time missed due to injury was a big reason Washington missed the playoffs.

Beal is still young and has All-Star potential, but his relationship with the Wizards’ franchise player is troublesome. The fact that he’s missed roughly 25 percent of his NBA career due to injuries is even worse.

When Washington was excluded from the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, this extension became necessary to ensure the Wizards stay on the path back to relevance. But with Bradley Beal on course to become the next Eric Gordon, a substantial amount of risk comes with it.

Grade: C+

Next: Mahinmi Makin' Money

Mahinmi Makin’ Money

Re-signing Beal to a huge contract was expected, which makes the Wizards’ unexpected signing of Ian Mahinmi their de factor marquee move of the summer. With a four-year, $64 million deal, Mahinmi will strengthen Washington’s middling defense and aging frontcourt.

Though Mahinmi is 29 years old himself, he’s coming off something of a career season with the Indiana Pacers, averaging 9.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 58.9 percent from the floor. He also helped ground the NBA’s third-best defense as its starting center, negating the expected drop-off with Roy Hibbert gone.

According to CSN Mid-Atlantic, Marcin Gortat will remain the starter over Mahinmi for 2016-17, but it’s only a matter of time before the 32-year-old Polish Hammer cedes the lion’s share of minutes at center to Mahinmi and his $16 million annual salary.

Last season, Gortat averaged 13.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game for the Wizards, shooting 56.7 percent from the floor and operating as a viable pick-and-roll partner with John Wall. As his athleticism continues to diminish, however, the opening will be there for Mahinmi to assert himself as the eventual starter.

The fit is less than ideal, since Mahinmi and Gortat can’t play in the frontcourt together. But as inflated as his deal may look now, Mahinmi is a defensive-minded center who really showed what he can do as a starter last year.

If need be, Washington can always sort this situation out by dealing Gortat at the trade deadline and addressing other areas of need in the exchange. For now, they just have a slightly overpaid backup who can play late-game minutes when the team needs stops.

Grade: B-

Next: Nabbing Nicholson

Nabbing Nicholson

Andrew Nicholson probably won’t make a massive difference for Washington’s frontcourt, but on a four-year, $26 million deal, he’s a useful bench piece coming in with a modest price tag.

Though his best statistical year was his rookie season, the four-year pro out of St. Bonaventure had a hard time finding minutes in the Orlando Magic’s crowded frontcourt. Still, he helped repair some of his free agency value off the bench last year, averaging 6.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in only 14.7 minutes per game.

That’s solid production for a player who was used so sparingly, and Nicholson also posted efficient .471/.360/.785 shooting splits in the process. If the Wizards get similar effort out of him behind Markieff Morris, they should be more than pleased with the value here.

There’s a chance Nicholson’s 36 percent shooting from three-point range was a one-year fluke, but this 26-year-old still has potential that was never fully tapped in Orlando. Perhaps playing on a more experienced Wizards team will help him find it, although it’s worth noting that four years is quite a lengthy leap of faith.

Grade: B-

Next: Trade For Trey

Trade For Trey

With Ramon Sessions and Garrett Temple on the way out in free agency, the Wizards needed to bring in some extra padding for the backcourt. In a trade with the Utah Jazz for Trey Burke, they (sort of) accomplished that.

At the mere price of a 2021 second round pick, the Wizards snagged an inefficient bench gunner who caught a bad rap in his first three NBA seasons because he just didn’t fit in. In Washington, he’ll get the chance to learn from a superstar point guard in John Wall and supply the Wizards’ second unit with scoring.

Even better, he’s only owed $3.4 million in the final season of his rookie contract, which is far more preferable than some of the contracts guys like Sessions and D.J. Augustin got this summer.

Holding career averages of 12.1 points and 4.2 assists in 28.2 minutes per game, Burke clearly needs to work on his efficiency. He barely cracked 40 percent shooting for the first time last year (41.3 percent) and shot a career-high 34.4 percent from three-point range.

Still, Burke’s unfair reputation has outgrown his actual flaws, and since he’s only 23 years old, there’s plenty of chance for growth. Perhaps this change of scenery that cost Washington very little will help Burke start fresh.

Grade: B

Next: Signing Satoransky

Signing Satoransky

Burke’s path back to relevance won’t be unimpeded, however, as he may have to fight Tomas Satoransky for minutes in the backup guard spot. Signed to a three-year, $9 million deal, the 6’7″ Satoransky was originally drafted by Washington back in 2012 at No. 32.

He’s spent the last few years playing in Spain, the but 24-year-old Czech has built quite a reputation for himself overseas. He’s officially listed as a shooting guard, but he can handle the ball and has developed into one of the best two-way guards in all of Europe.

Last season in Euroleague and La Liga, Satoransky averaged 9.6 points, 4.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game on 38.9 percent shooting from three-point range. He has terrific length to play either guard spot and is extremely athletic.

Perhaps Washington will try slotting him alongside Burke in the backcourt for the second unit, but no matter where Satoransky’s at, the Wizards are adding an excellent young player on a minuscule contract to their rotation.

Grade: B+

Next: Signing Smith

Signing Smith

An imperfect deal for an imperfect player. Don’t get me wrong, a three-year, $16 million contract for Jason Smith is pretty fair value in this Scrooge McDuck-ian marketplace, but he might be a bit overqualified to be a third-string center.

In terms of pick-and-pop threats, Smith is one of league’s best suited centers. Actually, he was the league’s best suited player for pick-and-pop scoring, according to Synergy Sports Tech:

Unfortunately, outside of his pick-and-pop abilities (which only extend to the midrange, by the way), Smith doesn’t have many of the skills you’d expect from a seven-foot center.

He’s a dreadful rebounder (2.9 rebounds per game last year, 3.4 per game for his career), doesn’t protect the rim (0.9 blocks per game last season, 0.7 per game for his career) and hasn’t been able to extend his range to three-point land (25 percent last year, 29.3 percent for his career).

Smith is a quality third-stringer to have and his contract is hardly a concern, but this 30-year-old will only fill a minimal role in spot duty.

Grade: C

Next: Odds And Ends

Odds And Ends

The biggest move Washington made to round out the rest of the roster was re-signing Marcus Thornton to a one-year, $1.3 million deal. Known for his instant (albeit inefficient) scoring off the bench, Thornton averaged 9.7 points in 18.2 minutes per game for the Wizards and Houston Rockets.

Though he only shot 39.9 percent from the field overall, Thornton provides Washington with an alternative in case of injury or Trey Burke failing to fit in. More than likely though, he’ll only be used for his annual short stretch of games where he heats up off the bench before fading back into obscurity.

Washington also signed Danuel House and Sheldon McClellan to partially guaranteed, two-year deals.

House is a 6’7″ shooting guard from Texas A&M who went undrafted in this year’s draft, but he earned a deal after playing for Washington’s NBA Summer League team. He averaged 11.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 40 percent from long range.

McClellan also played for the Wizards’ Summer League squad, but only averaged 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. A 6’6″ guard from Miami, McClellan also went undrafted this year.

Jarell Eddie, a 6’7″ wing who went undrafted in 2014 and has spent the last two seasons playing in the D-League and for the Wizards, agreed with the team to push back the guarantee date of his deal to just before the start of the 2016-17 season, meaning he’ll have to work his way onto the roster in training camp.

In NBA Summer League, Eddie did all that he could on that front, averaging 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.

Finally, there’s Daniel Ochefu, a 6’11” power forward from Villanova. Ochefu went undrafted in this year’s draft despite his contributions to a national championship team, and his NBA Summer League performance for the Wizards’ squad (1.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 14.2 MPG) did little to convince anyone he’s a legitimate NBA prospect.

Still, it was enough to earn him a three-year, partially guaranteed deal. Unfortunately, only Eddie feels like a player with legitimate upside in this category.

Grade: C-

Next: Overall

Overall

When it quickly became apparent that Kevin Durant wasn’t even considering his hometown Wizards, Washington quickly pivoted, preparing for free agency with a massive extension for Bradley Beal, a surprising offer to Ian Mahinmi and a few other minor moves to round out the bench.

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Nothing the Wizards could’ve done this summer — and nothing they actually did this summer — was going to change the fact that this team’s success still relies on its star backcourt getting its s**t together after an off year. This goal, of course, includes staying healthy this time.

That being said, Washington did a decent enough job rounding out the edges. Mahinmi will be a terrific backup until he takes over the starting job, and at that point, the Wizards should be an improved defensive team.

Mahinmi makes Gortat expendable in a future trade, and that kind of move could help address the Wizards’ other problem areas as they try to build a contender around Wall and Beal.

Andrew Nicholson is a nice, young addition, even though his contract is a bit long for a mostly unproven player. Satoransky and Burke should be fun together in the backcourt, assuming they earn their respective spots in the rotation.

More hoops habit: Miami Heat: 2016 Offseason Grades

The Wizards are a more complete team this upcoming season, but at the end of the day, their future — both for the short-term and the long-term — likely rests on Bradley Beal’s ability to stay on the court and start getting along with John Wall. After giving him that hefty raise, this summer could look like a genius offseason or a disastrous one down the road.

Grade: C+