The Washington Wizards are near the bottom of the NBA when it comes to intrigue into what they will do this summer. They hold the 15th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and are completely capped out, precluding them from doing anything in free agency.
Making a trade is the only way Washington can really shake up their roster this summer, and it appears they are set on dealing center Marcin Gortat. There have been some grumblings since before the trade deadline that Gortat could be on the move, but he ultimately stayed in Washington through the playoffs.
Gortat shouldn’t be terribly difficult to move, as he’s an expiring deal this season at $13.6 million, and has proven to be a reasonably productive big, although one not ideally suited for the modern NBA. Still, there should be a market for him, and it will just depend on what the Wizards are looking for in return that will determine what else goes into a Gortat package.
For his part, Gortat is fully expecting to be somewhere other than Washington D.C. this summer. In a recent conversation with Jacek Zukowski of Gazeta Krakowska in Poland, Gortat explained that he’s “99 percent sure” he’ll be getting traded and expects a deal to go down, likely with a team in the West, soon (via Bartosz Bielecki).
https://twitter.com/bart__92/status/1009789682664771586
If you drop the original post into Google Translate (which is obviously not going to give you a perfect translation) you can get gist of what Gortat is saying, albeit with a rough translation. He notes it isn’t a surprise and that he’s expected this to happen for a year or two, noting that it’s sensible to try and replace the oldest player. Gortat also indicates his expectation that he’ll be moved to the Western Conference.
It’s about as level-headed a reaction to trade rumors as you’ll see from a player, as Gortat understands the NBA business as well as anyone having been moved before in his career. Considering how there was clearly some tension between Gortat and John Wall this season at times, it’s no surprise to anyone else in the league that he’s on the market. We’ll have to wait and see what team is willing to part with enough to land Gortat, and whether the Wizards are looking to actually upgrade their roster or just save money on this year’s tax bill.
