Jonas Valanciunas signs curiously with the Washington Wizards
Grade: C
There are moments every offseason when an NBA Free Agency signing doesn't make much sense. This summer, that's exactly what Jonas Valanciunas signing with the Washington Wizards represented. At 32 years old, it simply didn't make much sense for Valanciunas to sign with the rebuilding Wizards. This is one of those deals that you can't quite figure out for either side. But let's try to break it down. Valanciuas got his one final payday, I presume, and the Wizards secured an asset that they could theoretically end up trading a year or two down the line. That's the best sense that I can make for this pairing.
The Wizards are still in the very early stages of a rebuild and I can't envision how Valanciuas helps this team on that front. Flipping Valanciunas for a future pick in a few months could be what Washington plans to do but that could end up being easier said than done.
Of all the big moves from day 1 of NBA Free Agency, this is the one that didn't make a ton of sense for me. But, hey, maybe I'm wrong in the end and this ends up being a great fit?