Otto Porter was one of the top free agents this summer – albeit restricted – and after the Wizards’ front office allowed him to test the waters and let the market set his value, they wisely opted to match the Nets’ four-year, $106 million max offer sheet and bring him back into the fold.
Porter was a key factor in Washington’s success last season, both as a solid perimeter defender and a three-point threat, where he converted better than 43 percent of his attempts, good for top five in that category among all players for the season. The Wizards were just one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals this spring, but the 24-year-old forward has even loftier goals going forward. Via AJ Neuharth-Keusch of USA TODAY Sports:
“I’m just looking forward to getting back out there with the guys, getting back to the playoffs … working my tail off going forward, trying to get a championship and bring it here to the city,” Porter said at his contract extension press conference on Wednesday. “Because we need it desperately.”
Washington D.C. isn’t quite in the same position that the city of Cleveland was before last year, when its championship drought across all of its professional sports teams dated back more than 50 years, but still, it’s been since 1978 that the then-Bullets took home the ‘ship.
For his part, Porter is clearly just like every other hyper-competitive athlete in this regard, and that desire and motivation should make Wizards fans feel optimistic about him being part of their core unit for the future.
