The Washington Wizards lacked depth, and it came to bite them in the 2017 NBA Playoffs. There are plenty of free agents out there this off season, but who would be a good fit?
Now that the 2016-17 NBA campaign is over, front offices will be looking to see who’s available this offseason and what players might take them to the next level. At the focal point of this incredibly thorough question is the Washington Wizards.
They’re a team that needs to get a little bit better to be considered a contender, but doesn’t have much cap space to do so (especially if they re-sign Otto Porter Jr.).
So what can the Wizards do with little cap space to work with?
Well, for one, they can work on their depth. During both the regular season and the playoffs, the Wizards bench didn’t show up. The team lost leads and took major hits on both sides of the court whenever the starters rested. Look at some of the bench’s total plus/minus numbers from the regular season:
- Brandon Jennings: +31
- Bojan Bogdanovic: +26
- Kelly Oubre Jr.: -42
- Jason Smith: -15
- Ian Mahinmi: +31
Now let’s compare that to the starting unit in the regular season:
- John Wall: +248
- Bradley Beal: +334
- Otto Porter Jr.: +192
- Markieff Morris: +184
- Marcin Gortat: +201
That’s a startling difference in plus/minus. Most teams have a gap between their starters and their bench players, but the most alarming factor is that not even a single player coming off the bench is remotely close to any of the starters.
Usually teams competing at the top have a go-to scorer coming off the bench to keep the team afloat when their stars are resting. The Wizards just don’t have that player.
This will be one of the biggest holes the Wizards will need to shore up this offseason. They need solid scoring options and playmaking off the bench so John Wall and Bradley Beal don’t watch the leads they worked so hard to build disappear within minutes. Here’s a look at five players who might be affordable scoring options available this offseason.
5. Bojan Bogdanovic (Unrestricted)
2016-17 salary: $8 million
Bojan Bogdanovic averaged 13.7 points on 10.4 field goal attempts per game this season. This isn’t a player that will get Wizards fans excited, since they’d essentially be running their team back from last year, but his shooting is something that will always help teams.
In 2016-17 he shot 44.5 percent from field and had his highest scoring average in his three years in the league. Some could make the argument that Bogdanovic is only becoming a better scorer. Look at his numbers over the past three years:
- 2014-15: 9.0 PPG, 45.3 FG%, 35.5 3P%
- 2015-16: 11.2 PPG, 43.3 FG%, 38.2 3P%
- 2016-17: 13.7 PPG, 44.5 FG%, 36.7 3P%
While his percentages hover around the same numbers, his scoring numbers continue to go up. If he can keep improving and offer go-to buckets for the Wizards off the bench, Bojan could still be an incredibly solid option.
Plus, re-signing him would make the sting of giving up their first round draft pick for him hurt a little less.
4. Shaun Livingston (Unrestricted)
2016-17 salary: $5.8 million
Shaun Livingston will most likely want to run it back with the defending champions next year, but that team is getting VERY pricey. There’s a chance they have to let Livingston walk because they don’t have the cap space.
It could also be that Livingston, who has now won two championships, would be looking to make a little more money or get more years out of his deal. He is 31 years old, so he may want to try and get as much guaranteed money as possible.
His numbers aren’t eye-popping, as he only averaged 5.1 points in 17.7 minutes per game. But Livingston was just filling the role the Warriors needed. He absolutely has the offensive talent to produce more for a team if given an expanded role. He’s also known to help push the pace offensively and create mismatches on the offensive side of the ball. While he’s not a defensive star, he has incredible length at 6’6″ and clogs passing lanes well.
Shaun Livingston would be a perfect fit for the Washington Wizards. He’s a go-to playmaker off the bench, push the pace kind of guy. Not to mention he could help the Wizards’ starting unit create some version of a Lineup of Death given his height. Wall, Beal and Livingston would be a lot of explosive guards for one team to handle.
3. Darren Collison (Unrestricted)
2016-17 salary: $5.2 million
Darren Collison isn’t a flashy player, but he managed to contribute 13.2 points and 4.6 assists per game on a horrid Sacramento Kings team. He was a starter for the Kings, clocking in at 30.3 minutes per game.
But Collison is 29 years old and he’s had his fair share of injuries. He might be served better coming from more of a supporting role.
Collison isn’t the guy who will get the most points off the bench for you this next year, but one should also factor in his playmaking ability. He isn’t just a scorer, but a facilitator who takes care of the ball. He averaged only 1.7 turnovers per game last season making his assist/turnover ratio close to 4:1.
Again, this won’t necessarily make Wizards fans jump with glee, but Collison is a strong contributor and could flourish even more once he’s got better teammates around him than what the Kings could offer.
2. Shelvin Mack (Unrestricted)
2016-17 salary: $2.4 million
This could quite literally be a “Return of the Mack,” but Shelvin Mack isn’t the same player he once was when he played two seasons with the Washington Wizards. Mack has improved incredibly as a defensive player. He can stay with almost anyone around the arc and frequently pesters other teams’ backcourts.
Mack still has that athleticism that’s stuck with him throughout his entire NBA career. He moves off the ball well and gets to the hoop with ease. In the 2016-17 NBA season, Mack was given a starting role due to injury and in that time he averaged career-highs in points, rebounds and assists, all while maintaining a field goal percentage above his career average.
It was a small sample size of nine games, but it could also be an indicator that Mack could flourish on a team where he’s given more minutes.
The Wizards obviously need help scoring the ball, but they definitely wouldn’t mind some help defending the perimeter as well. Mack would give some much-needed help on defense with the chance of becoming a breakout scorer.
1. Sergio Rodriguez (Unrestricted)
2016-17 salary: $6.8 million
Sergio Rodriguez only averaged 7.8 points in 22.3 minutes per game, but he shoots well from three when given the chance. He also brings 5.8 assists per game to the table, making him a double threat in both scoring and playmaking for others. He takes care of the ball, creates shots for others and shoots respectably well from three, making him an interesting player to gamble on.
The bigger question with Sergio is how much money is he looking to sign for and for how long? He is 31 years old now and made $6.8 million last year. It seems unlikely someone would offer him a heavily lucrative deal, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Sergio will immediately jump on the first deal he finds.
The Wizards might be smart to wait a bit in free agency and offer him a contract worth less money since I don’t think any team wants to offer a player of his age a lengthy contract.
Next: 5 takeaways from the 2017 NBA Finals
With no first round draft pick and little cap space, the Wizards may not have their cream of the crop of new players this offseason, but if they want to compete with the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics in the East, they’re going to have to shore up their bench to have any chance at all.