For the past two-plus years, the Washington Wizards were in salary cap hell. Now, after a flurry of surprising trades on Wednesday night, they aren’t.
Just like that, the Wizards made their financial outlook much better, especially in light of John Wall’s Achilles injury. They shipped Otto Porter Jr. to the Bulls and Markieff Morris to the Pelicans and in doing so dropped under the luxury tax threshold by about $230,000.
The Wizards got some solid players in return, three capable veterans in Jabari Parker, Bobby Portis and Wesley Johnson. Portis could prove a long-term option at power forward.
But make no mistake, these deals were about money and the Wizards gave themselves some much-needed flexibility moving forward.
There are many potential domino effects of their Wednesday night deals. For one, they may actually have cap room this summer for the first time since 2016.
Parker has a team option for next season worth $20 million, Johnson is a free agent and Portis is a restricted free agent. Opting out of Parker’s deal would give them more than $20 million to spend.
Washington could free up even more money in two ways. For one, if Dwight Howard were to opt out of his contract, that would add $5.6 million. That may seem unlikely at this point, but if Howard returns this season and plays decently, he could want to test free agency, either for more money or a chance to win a ring elsewhere.
The other way the Wizards could free up some money is by using the stretch provision for the final year of Ian Mahinmi’s $64 million contract. He is due to make $15.5 million next season and if the Wizards stretch him between July 1 and August 1, they could spread that money out over three years at about $5.2 million annually.
That would give the Wizards an additional $10.3 million in room. If they take the Mahinmi option, and let Parker walk, they could have about $30.3 million to spend. Add Howard’s potential opt out and that money could move to roughly $36 million.
That means the Wizards could clear enough money to be serious players in free agency this summer. With some maneuvering, they can offer a max contract.
Though the Wizards haven’t had much luck in free agency, this summer’s market will be stacked. Among those who could be available are Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins and, yes, Kevin Durant.
The Wizards could use their money in the open market, or allocate much of it to retain their own players. They would like to re-sign Tomas Satoransky and Trevor Ariza, in particular. Now, that is much more feasible.
The Wizards are also interested in bringing 21-year-old center Thomas Bryant back, though the addition of Portis could change things.
Turning Porter’s salary into multiple players was paramount for the Wizards. He was owed about $55 million over the next two seasons. Washington got two players who can help right away and some flexibility to retool their roster this summer.
The Wizards have for years been a team with unenviable salary cap restraints. Now they have many more options moving forward.
[update: an earlier version of this story said Mahinmi was due to make $15.9 million in 2019-20, when he is set to make $15.5 million]
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