Washington Wizards: 5 roster moves they must make this offseason

1. Move on from Ian Mahinmi

Since signing his four-year, $64 million deal, Ian Mahinmi has been struck with injury. In fact, in three of the four years, Mahinmi has only played more than 38 games once. This, along with the Wall injury, has hamstrung the Wizards in their quest for playoffs.

It might be a little confusing to say to move on from your starting center when the team is almost last in the league in rebounding. However, with the emergence of Thomas Bryant, Mahinmi is certainly expendable.

The reason for this is Mahinmi has averaged 5.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in his time with the franchise. These are actually quite close to his career numbers of 5.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

This shows that the Wizards misjudged what Mahinmi would be able to give them in terms of production when they signed him to that deal. However, in fairness to the Wizards, the landscape four seasons ago was different where centers were getting big paydays.

Now the league has shifted and a more athletic center who can play multiple positions and stretch the floor is more desirable. As the Wizards have more than $101 million in committed salary next season, they will need to be careful with Mahinmi’s replacement.

There are a number of options for the Wizards here. They could sign a cheap free agent, rely on internal growth or take an athletic project with their second-round draft pick.