Washington Wizards: 3 goals for the 2019 offseason
By Ben Yokoyama
An eventful summer begins for the Washington Wizards, who need to balance setting up their future and keeping talent on the team now.
The Washington Wizards are admittedly in a tough spot. They currently have only two players under guaranteed contracts beyond the 2019-20 season, leaving their future clouded with uncertainty. Those two players, John Wall and Bradley Beal, are due a combined $64.9 million next season, leaving few funds to allocate to the rest of the roster.
The players are not the only uncertainties looming over the team’s future. They still have no general manager after finally firing Ernie Grunfeld on April 2.
NBC Sports Washington reported that interim GM Tommy Sheppard will be taking on the responsibilities for the team’s ninth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, but this leaves fans wondering who is taking charge of re-signing the team’s many free agents and potentially trying to pick up a player in the big free agency crop opening June 30.
Sheppard can handle the draft-day duties, but if he were the target for GM, he would likely have already filled the permanent position. Regardless of who is at the helm, these should be their main goals for the Wizards this offseason.