Hoops Rumors is previewing the 2020 offseason for all 30 NBA teams. We’re looking at the key questions facing each club, as well as the roster decisions they’ll have to make this fall. Today, we’re focusing on the Washington Wizards.
Salary Cap Outlook
John Wall and Bradley Beal will make a combined $70MM in 2020/21, and the Wizards have seven more players with fully guaranteed salaries under contract, so the team won’t have any cap room. Washington shouldn’t be in danger of going over the tax line either, unless re-signing Davis Bertans is pricier than anticipated.
Depending on whether Bertans is re-signed, how expensive he is, and what other moves the Wizards make, they could end up with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($9.26MM) and the bi-annual exception ($3.62MM), though they’re probably unlikely to use both exceptions in full.
Our full salary cap preview for the Wizards can be found right here.
Roster Decisions To Watch
Options:
- None
Non-Guaranteed Contracts:
Two-Way Contracts:
Free Agents:
2020 Draft Assets
First Round:
Second Round:
The Wizards technically finished with the league’s eighth-worst record, but were locked into the No. 9 spot in the lottery standings because the eight teams not invited to the NBA’s summer restart in Orlando were assigned the top eight spots.
If the order had instead been based on records after the summer seeding games and the Wizards had entered the lottery in that No. 8 slot, it would’ve been Washington – not Charlotte – that moved up to claim the third overall pick. Instead, the Wizards stayed put at No. 9.
Washington traded away its second-round pick (No. 39) but has the Bulls’ second-rounder at No. 37 to make up for it. That was one of the assets the Wizards acquired in last summer’s Tomas Satoransky sign-and-trade.
Three Key Offseason Questions
1. Is the clock ticking on the John Wall/Bradley Beal backcourt?
Both Wall and Beal have been Wizards for their entire NBA careers, and they’ve been playing together since 2012. So far, the duo only has four playoff appearances and three second-round exits to show for its efforts, but general manager Tommy Sheppard sounds committed to giving the star-studded backcourt at least one more shot when both players return healthy for 2020/21.
Wall, who hasn’t appeared in a game since December 2018 due to a torn Achilles, has negative trade value at this point due to his long injury layoff, his age (30 on Sunday), and his contract, which will pay him about $133MM over the next three years. As such, the Wizards’ decision to stick with him and hope for a strong comeback is an easy one.
The equation isn’t as simple for Beal though. The two-time All-Star is coming off his most productive offensive season yet, having averaged 30.5 PPG and 6.1 APG in 57 games in 2019/20. His contract – $63MM over the next two years, with a $37MM player option for ’22/23 – is more team-friendly than Wall’s, and he’s three years younger than his backcourt partner.
It all adds up to make Beal a desirable trade target for rival teams should the Wizards decide to make him available. Trading Beal would be the most logical way for the franchise to launch a rebuild and restock its shelves with young players and/or draft picks.
There has been no indication that Sheppard would consider such a move this offseason, but if the Wizards get off to a poor start in 2020/21, trade speculation surrounding Beal will certainly heat up by 2021’s deadline.
He and Wall are under pressure to make things work, and the Wizards are under pressure to surround them with the right pieces to help them do that — Beal has been patient so far and said the right things about his commitment to D.C., but another losing season could cause that commitment to waver.
2. How much will it cost to re-sign Davis Bertans?
Fortifying the roster around Wall and Beal will be challenging because of how sizable those stars’ salaries are. The Wizards don’t project to have cap room for the next couple years, so unless they plan on cutting costs, their most viable paths for upgrading the roster are through the draft and trades — and re-signing their own key players.
Bertans is one such player, and there’s no doubt the Wizards would like to retain him when he reaches free agency this fall. They rebuffed offers for him at the trade deadline, and holding his Bird rights means they’ll be able to comfortably go over the cap to re-sign him. But it won’t be easy.
Estimates earlier this season suggested that Bertans may be in line for a deal worth in the range of $15-20MM per year. There was a belief that the financial uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic may lower his price tag, but a recent report indicated that people around the league still expect Bertans to command a salary in the range of $15MM+ annually. That report also suggested that several teams with cap room – the Hawks, Knicks, and Suns – are candidates to pursue the sharpshooting Latvian.
Bertans isn’t an All-Star, so the Wizards should be wary about investing in him too heavily. But there just aren’t many 6’10” players in the NBA who can shoot like Bertans (42.4% on 8.7 threes per game in 2019/20) and hold their own on defense. His size and his ability to stretch the floor make him a valuable asset, and letting him walk wouldn’t open up any cap space that could be used to replace him.
The Wizards are in a tough spot here, given the unrestricted nature of Bertans’ free agency. While they really won’t want to let him get away, they probably need to have a walk-away point if bidding increases to the $20MM-per-year neighborhood.
3. Can the Wizards draft a foundational piece at No. 9?
In the last two years, the Wizards have drafted Troy Brown at No. 15 (2018) and Rui Hachimura at No. 9 (2019). Although neither player has immediately emerged as an impact player, they’ve taken positive strides and look like they could be long-term building blocks.
In 2020, Sheppard and his front office will once again pick at No. 9. And while the 2020 draft class may be lacking in surefire All-Stars, there’s enough depth in the pool to create some intriguing options for Washington in the top 10.
In his latest mock draft, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has USC center Onyeka Okongwu slipping to the Wizards at No. 9 and suggests that would be a big win for the club, given Okongwu’s defensive-first mentality and his abilities as a rim-runner.
Most other mock drafts assume Okongwu will be off the board before the Wizards pick. It’s probably safe to expect LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman, and Obi Toppin to be unavailable too. Deni Avdija, Isaac Okoro, Tyrese Haliburton, and Killian Hayes are other strong candidates to be drafted in the top eight, but at least one of those nine players will fall to No. 9 and could appeal to Washington.
Knockdown shooters like Aaron Nesmith and Devin Vassell will likely be options for the Wizards at No. 9. Athletic big man Precious Achiuwa figures to be available too — ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has the Memphis forward/center going to Washington in his latest mock draft.
By staying put at No. 9 in the draft lottery, the Wizards may not get a chance to acquire a future star in this year’s draft, but there’s certainly an opportunity for the team to add a promising young role player at that spot.
Information from Basketball Insiders and ESPN was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.