Whatever you might think about the Washington Wizards’ choices in free agency, they didn’t mess around and while they might have paid too much for some players it’s clear they’re building around a plan.
General manager Ernie Grunfield, after securing two offensive weapons in the draft in the form of Otto Porter and Glen Rice Jr, blitzed free agency on the first day.
The Wizards acted without hesitation, re-signing shooting forward Martell Webster to a four-year, $22 million contract then agreed to a two-year deal with point guard Eric Maynor and on the third day a one-year deal with shooting guard Garrett Temple.
Webster has largely failed to impress for most of his career, hampered by injury, but last year with the Wizards the swingman enjoyed something of a revival, shooting at 42 percent from three-point range and doing a good job spacing the floor.
He complemented both John Wall and Bradley Beal nicely in 2012-13, so the Wizards clearly made keeping him a priority.
It’s a lot of money, but if he can maintain the level of play they saw last season then the team will be happy with the investment.
Eric Maynor will likely replace A.J. Price as the team’s point guard off the bench. Maynor is a better shooter and should create more assists as well.
Able to generate more opportunities to the rim, he’s a more suitable replacement for Wall for a spell or – heaven forbid – should he suffer injury.
Like Webster, the Wizards are hoping for Maynor to not regress, and should provide more offensive consistency off the bench.
The third move the Wizards made was the one-year deal with Garrett Temple at the veteran’s minimum.
After being signed off of the NBA Developmental League last season, Temple gave the Wizards some solid production on defense, and as he can play both guard positions he’ll likely see AJ Price released.
The re-signing of Temple at the minimum was a safe move by the Wizards, and should he continue to develop could be their best move of free agency.
The Wizards clearly came into free agency with a plan and by all accounts executed it, confident in their roster.
Of course, some holes remain. The Wizards need a stretch four to help with the pick and roll, but could be waiting for some value late.
They were reportedly interested in 37-year-old Antawn Jamison, but they’d have to offer him the minimum, so instead they’ll likely chose to revisit it next season.
The Wizards are gearing up for a playoff run, and with the Atlanta Hawks appearing to go into rebuilding mode they might have a genuine shot (let’s assume the Heat win the division again in 2013-14).
To do this they added some depth on the bench to keep the offence scoring, and were quick to re-sign key roleplayers.
They may have not added the pick-and-roll weapon John Wall wanted via the draft or free agency, but it’s obvious the Wizards had their own priorities and acted without hesitation.
Now, Washington has begun to build a competitive team around the trio of Wall, Bradley Beal and rookie Otto Porter, and there’s a good chance their efforts in head office will bear fruit.
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