Washington Wizards: 5 goals for the 2018 offseason

4. Re-sign Mike Scott to a two-year deal

The signing of Mike Scott during the last offseason was a head-scratcher to many Wizards fans, but their doubts were squashed in 2017-18. Scott put up reasonable numbers as one of the more productive reserves in their rotation. He averaged 8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest last season.

He signed a one-year deal to the league veteran’s minimum (roughly $1.7 million) after coming off the worst season of his career with the Atlanta Hawks. Now, his value on the free agent market has likely risen after a strong season with the Washington Wizards.

The Wizards missed out on re-signing Bojan Bogdanovic last offseason, they shouldn’t do the same with Scott. One trick up they have up their sleeve is the Non-Bird Exception rule in free agency. This exception:

"allows a team to re-sign its own free agent to a salary starting at up to 120% of his salary in the previous season (not over the maximum salary, of course)…or 120% of the minimum salary. Raises are limited to 5% of the salary in the first year of the contract, and contracts are limited to four seasons when this exception is used."

The Non-Bird Exception gives the Wizards the ability to re-sign to 120 percent of his veteran’s minimum salary for up to at least four years. Given that scenario, they can add to their payroll, which is fifth-highest in the league, and still go over the cap.

Here’s a look at the numbers of a potential Mike Scott’ two-year deal using his estimated $1.7 million deal in 2017-18:

• Year 1: $2.04 million
• Year 2: $2.14 million

The playing time aspect is certainly there for Scott to re-sign but after the season he had, his value on the free agent market could be too high for them. It’s worth a shot to offer the deal, though. It opens the door for Scott to receive another pay raise in two seasons.