The Wizards have had a busy, productive offseason. There has been no shortage of action between the perennial Bradley Beal trade rumors, hiring Wes Unseld Jr. as head coach, drafting Corey Kispert and Isaiah Todd and trading Russell Westbrook to acquire Spencer Dinwiddie. Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell as part of a five-team deal. It has been a wild ride for sure, but one that most Wizards fans and pundits seemed to be pleased with. Indeed, ESPN recently awarded the Wizards the “best offseason” superlative in a recent social media post.
Now, however, the Wizards are faced with an interesting problem, one that they are not used to having; they have too many good players with overlapping roles and positions. Having depth is always a boon for a team, but not at the expense of maximizing the skillsets of players. This tweet from Wizards insider Quinton Mayo really puts the situation into perspective, as many of the second and third-string players have been starters on other teams at points in their careers.
While having depth is often what allows teams to have successful regular seasons and remain impervious to injury woes, there is such a thing as too many cooks spoiling the stew. This is particularly the case when it comes to the forward positions with Washington. Between Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija, Davis Bertans and Kyle Kuzma, they have a bunch of players with remarkably similar roles and abilities. Some can shoot or defend better than others, but they would ultimately be playing the same position on the floor, making it difficult to play them together at the same time. Washington is also very close to being above the luxury tax, and offloading one or both of their salaries would give them more in-season flexibility.
The answer to this quasi-problem is clear; trade one (or more) of these four players. Hachimura and Avdija are both recently drafted and on cheap contracts, making them unlikely candidates. That leaves Kuzma and Bertans. Bertans is currently making around $16 million until 2025, and Kuzma makes around $13 million a year until 2024. Obviously, over $10 million a year is not small potatoes, but Bertans elite movement shooting makes him a potentially valuable asset to a contending team. Kuzma has obviously seen his value drop since his early days in the league and has become something of a meme, but he is still a great off-ball player who shoots 3-pointers at a decent clip and understands team defensive concepts very well. Somebody on the market must be interested in at least one of the two for the right price.
While trading one of these two would obviously be an ideal scenario from both a salary cap and roster composition perspective, they obviously have to find a willing suitor. Hopefully, the Wizards’ front office has a plan in place for how to manage this positional logjam and allow their young players in Hachimura and Avidja to shine with more available minutes.
All stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference and ESPN. All salary information courtesy of Spotrac.
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