Washington Wizards: Beal-Wall Dilemma Only Adds To Intriguing Offseason

The Washington Wizards had an intriguing free agency period, and John Wall will be the ringleader to make it all work.

Even before the John Wall-Bradley Beal “beef” surfaced, the Washington Wizards were on one of the teams whose offseason intrigued me. In an offseason once planned around bringing home Kevin Durant, the Wizards were quickly eliminated from the competition. Durant didn’t even extend them a meeting in the Hamptons, forcing Washington to go an alternate route.

I found Washington’s offseason as more intriguing but could understand how it registered as disappointing to some. The Wizards didn’t land a meeting with Durant, nor did they land free agent Al Horford, losing out to the Boston Celtics for the talented power forward’s services. Horford would’ve been a perfect big man for the Wizards. 

Still, the Washington Wizards finished with a solid free agency haul, making them one of the interesting teams near the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

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Washington’s offseason started with re-signing the aforementioned Beal to a five-year extension worth $128 million. Beal is an All-Star talent, but nagging injury issues plagued his first four seasons in the NBA. However, at 23 years old, the Wizards are taking a chance on him figuring out how to avoid injuries in his prime.

However, I’m sure they didn’t expect a feud with Wall to be on the horizon.

It’s never a good thing to see two star players that “have a tendency to dislike each other” on the floor. Based on Kevin O’Connor’s piece at the Ringer on the matter, it just doesn’t seem good. The Wizards will need both players to figure it out on the floor in order to get Washington back to the heights they were two seasons ago.  Like O’Connor said, “The Wizards will try like hell to make it work.” 

Once the Wizards finished hammering away on a Beal extension, Washington went quiet for a bit. They added Trey Burke for a 2021 second round pick to replace Ramon Sessions and added the underrated Andrew Nicholson to assume the role of stretch power forward behind Markieff Morris.

Their two bigger moves? Adding center Ian Mahinmi and guard Tomas Satoransky.

After several seasons as a backup center, Mahinmi exploded onto the scene in Indiana, averaging 9.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists last season. He also added 1.1 blocks per game, started a career-high 71 games and continued to be one of the post defenders in the league.

Despite having Marcin Gortat in the fold for the next three seasons, Washington envisions Mahinmi as a strong post defender who offers Washington consistency at center as Gortat sits.

As for Satoransky, he adds versatility and shooting on a roster that needed it.

Last season, Satoransky averaged 9.6 points and 4.2 assists per game, and knocked down 39 percent of his three-pointers for FC Barcelona. At 6’7″, Satoransky could serve alongside Wall as another floor spacer, or even operate Washington’s offense from time to time.

Satoransky could operate the offense from either guard spot and even play see time at small forward. Attaching Beal and Satoransky — two good shooters — alongside Wall could make Washington’s offense even more dynamic.

Like most players transitioning into the NBA, the worry with Satoransky is the ability on the defensive side of the ball. While his size should compensate for some of his struggles in terms of speed, Satoransky will have to learn and adjust to NBA-level speed and even larger, more physical guards from time to time. 

On paper, Washington intrigues me. Washington has a nice collection of players (Wall, Beal, Satoransky, Morris, Nicholson, Gortat, Mahinmi) and that’s without considering forwards Kelly Oubre and Otto Porter Jr. Both are long-limbed forwards with considerable upside and the size to help at both wing positions. 

Porter is the one that seems more destined to take a step forward at this point. Entering his fourth season in the league, Porter has made steady improvements, jumping to 11.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last season. He knocked down 36 percent of his three-pointers last year, improved his steal and assist rates and became a (slightly) positive defensive player.

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For Porter, if he can make one more jump on both sides of the ball, become an even better defensive player – the solo defensive numbers weren’t great – and someone who can create for himself, the Wizards would have the dynamic 1-2-3 combination they envisioned when they selected Porter three years ago with the third overall pick.

Despite my intrigue, there are some concerns for this team heading into next season. While the prospect of head coach Scott Brooks is exciting, the Wall-Beal dilemma could boil over into the regular season and I’m always wondering if Markieff Morris can keep his head on straight. 

Don’t forget injuries. Beal has yet to play a full 82 games and if Wall misses time, Trey Burke is in line to replace him. Not good.

Still, the Washington Wizards feel like a team that improved and might be underrated headed into the 2016-17 season. They have some depth in the frontcourt and the backcourt, added some more shooting around Wall, and Brooks is an upgrade over Randy Wittman on the bench. They certainly feel like they have a higher ceiling over a team like Indiana.

More hoops habit: Washington Wizards: 2016 Offseason Grades

If they can simply stay healthy, the Washington Wizards could be a fun team to watch and could return back to the playoffs after missing them last season.