Washington Wizards: Whats Next In Free Agency?

Day 1 of the NBA free agency frenzy was exactly that, a frenzy. ESPN’s Marc Stein described the day in a tweet as “the wildest July 1 we’ve ever seen on Planet Roundball.”

There are still big-name players out on the market in LaMarcus Aldridge and DeAndre Jordan, but we saw a lot of teams lock up their franchise guys immediately yesterday like Anthony Davis in New Orleans and Kevin Love in Cleveland.

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While day 2 has the potential to be just as crazy as the first day, it will probably be filled with teams amping up their rosters by signing key role players.

For the Washington Wizards’ sake, day 1 was not one they had imagined. For starters, they lost their small forward, Paul Pierce, to the Clippers. Pierce was their first priority in free agency due to his profound impact on the team’s playoff success last season.

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Not only his leadership, but his play was also monumental for the Wizards because it gave Otto Porter a chance to come off the bench and produce without immense pressure.

Now that Pierce is gone, Porter will have to step up to the plate and take on a bigger role for the Wizards this year. We saw him blossom and produce in the playoffs when they would move Pierce to the power forward position, so the Wizards should be optimistic that Porter has the confidence to take on a starting role.

Another reason for concern with losing Pierce is overall depth at the small forward position. They still have Martell Webster under contract, but he was a clear disappointment last season. If they can re-sign Rasual Butler for cheap, it would provide depth and scoring behind Porter.

Besides Pierce, there were also some other free agents that were signed. Brandan Wright inked a deal with Memphis while Jonas Jerebko re-signed with Boston. These were two guys on the Wizards’ radar to fill their void at stretch 4, but there are still players left that could help the Wizards prepare for another playoff push in the Eastern Conference.

J. Michael, Wizards Insider for Comcast SportNet has been reporting that Rodney Stuckey is becoming more and more realistic for the Wizards to sign.

Stuckey is a 6’5″ shooting guard who could also play some small forward if the Wizards would decide to go with a very small lineup. Last season at Indiana, he averaged 12.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists while shooting 39 percent from three.

Scoring and three-point shooting is definitely something the Wizards would value tremendously with losing Pierce, having that come from a sixth man would all the better.

Three-point shooter Wayne Ellington is also drawing interest from the Wizards according to J. Michael:

Ellington would be another key player to back up Bradley Beal while bringing ability to knock down the deep ball. Last season for the Lakers he averaged 10.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists while shooting 37 percent from three. The Wizards haven’t had the luxury of having a pure shooter come off their bench, and Ellington would provide that immediately.

Either one of these guys would be beneficial to add to the roster, but for the right price. Remember, even though the Wizards’ main goal is to have a better year than last, they are still keeping Kevin Durant in mind next off-season, which may tend them to not go after players they necessarily need for next year.

The Wizards aren’t going to end up empty-handed when this off-season is all said and done. Even before the draft, their first priority is to get a stretch four. Especially in last year’s playoffs, it was evident that they were nonexistent with Nene Hilario trying to guard opposing power forwards that could stretch out to the three-point line.

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The problem that comes up with Nene is that there is no market for him. The 32-year old is entering his 15th season in the NBA, and even though he is still rather young, he has been sidelined with injuries that past couple of years that would make teams shy away from him.

Not only that, but he isn’t the prototypical power forward of today’s game, meaning he can’t handle the ball and can’t shoot from outside. It’s going to be difficult for the Wizards to find a stretch 4 anywhere else except for making a trade because not many are left that would sign the mid-level exception with them.

There is still hope although at the power forward position that the Wizards could get from free agency. Mirza Teletovic is still available and could be an option at stretch 4. Last season in Brooklyn, he suffered a blood clot in his lung that would cause huge caution, but if he were to pass a physical with the training staff, it would be a valuable signing.

His career three-point percentage is at 36, which isn’t very impressive for a pure shooter, but he attempts a high number of shots from outside which affects the percentage.

At the end of the day, the Wizards will make some type of move that will help put them in a better position than last season, while still keeping Kevin Durant in the back of their mind. It may not happen on day 2 of free agency or even the first week, but it will happen and you can expect to see the Wizards back in the playoffs next season. Don’t panic.

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