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NBA Free Agency: Finding the Wizards’ path to a new center

By Scott Levine

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 19: DeMarcus Cousins #0 of the New Orleans Pelicans and John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards talk during a first half timeout at Capital One Arena on December 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 19: DeMarcus Cousins #0 of the New Orleans Pelicans and John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards talk during a first half timeout at Capital One Arena on December 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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The Washington Wizards have no cap space, but need a new center. What is the best way for them to go about finding a big man as NBA Free Agency approaches?

The Washington Wizards suffered a first round playoff exit at the hands of Toronto this past season. Afterwards, star point guard John Wall essentially gave Washington’s front office a shopping list. He said the team needed more scoring off the bench and an athletic big man.

Washington flipped their aging and decidedly unathletic center Marcin Gortat for a bench scorer in Austin Rivers. Now it’s time to find an athletic big man, preferably one who can hold his own when switched onto perimeter players.

If ownership is willing to go over the apron, Washington can acquire a new big man with the Taxpayer Mid-Level exception. There are a glut of centers on the free agency market, and not enough cap space for all of them.

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Ed Davis, Aron Baynes, Jusuf Nurkic, Dwight Howard, Brook Lopez, Kyle O’Quinn, and others could be available, but these guys are not prototypical “athletic” modern big men.

The only modern big man in their price range is Nerlens Noel. Character concerns followed Noel from Philadelphia to Dallas, and his production has not matched expectations going into year five. He is a risky gamble for a team counting on finding starting center-level play.

Their other option is to trade for a big. They could flip some bench guys, and assets for a starting center. Jason Smith, Jodie Meeks, a 2020 and 2022 second pick, and the rights to Isuff Sannon could net Dewayne Dedmon from Atlanta.

Dedmon is solid, but maybe not what the Wizards are looking for to vault this team out of the first round. However, there are not many other that Washington can trade for without giving up a major part of their core.

A DeAndre Jordan opt-in and trade, or a DeMarcus Cousins sign-and-trade would cost either Bradley Beal or Otto Porter Jr. Washington would likely balk at giving up one of those guys for a post-torn-Achilles Boogie or a DeAndre one-year rental.

If the Wizards want to further explore the sign-and-trade market, there is one more guy who could make sense for them: Derrick Favors.

Troy Brown Jr., Tomas Satoransky, and Smith make a combined $11.3 million. Washington could add future assets if necessary. Favors’ new contract would start here, and, according to the CBA, have to be for at least three years. Favors would make $35.6 million over three years or $48.7 million for four years.

They could not then use their Taxpayer Mid-Level exception. Any team that receives a player in a sign-and-trade becomes hard capped at the apron, which is set at $6 million over the luxury tax line.

Still, Washington would have a solid squad if this sign-and-trade went through. Their starting lineup would be Wall, Beal, Porter, Markieff Morris or Kelly Oubre Jr., and Favors. They’d then have Morris or Oubre, Rivers, Ian Mahinmi, and Jodie Meeks, and whomever else they signed coming off the bench.

This seems like a 50-win second round playoff team, but they wouldn’t really have an opportunity to expand upon this. Favors, Beal, and Porter would be on the books until 2021. The team might not be in a position to draft a young player with Brown’s upside in the coming years.

This hypothetical trade with Utah for Favors seems on par with some of the Wizards’ previous moves. They flipped a first round pick for Gortat in 2013, and traded a first for Markieff Morris in 2016. They have been overlooking long term, sustainable production to stay respectable short-term.

If the Wizards had more foresight in the past, they would have more flexibility now. They gave Gortat an above-market contract in 2014 after trading a first for him. They offered Ian Mahinmi $64 million in a league where replacement value center production is cheap.

These moves, along with some other ill-advised contracts, pigeonholed them into matching Porter’s gargantuan offer sheet from the Nets. Washington was capped out and had no way to replace Porter.

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Most recently, the Wizards dug themselves into a hole by offering the Designated Veteran Extension to Wall. They are paying him $42 million annually, starting in 2019, until 2023. They won’t be able to move Wall, and can’t really blow up the team and tank until he is off the books.

Given the damage they’ve already done, the Wizards’ best route is probably to continue to throw money and future assets at their problems, and pray Beal or Porter takes another leap. If this is the plan, a trade for Dedmon or Favors makes sense for Washington. 

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