There is no way the Washington Wizards were going to win this summer’s off-season, not with a cesspool of contracts and a depleted roster. A mess created by the recently-fired Ernie Grunfeld. However, the Wizards are trying their best to place a band-aid over their self-inflicted wounds with a ray of hope of cleaning up the mess in the future.
Enter restricted free agent Thomas Bryant. The Wizards made the young, unpolished, but talented center their top priority in free agency. And they wasted no time locking him up with a three-year deal worth $25 million.
The deal is perfect for both sides. By agreeing to a deal immediately as free agency moratorium period started avoided the restricted free agent from talking to other teams and driving up the price to an unwanted range for the Wizards.
Bryant was acquired by the Wizards last summer when they claimed him off waivers after his release from the Los Angeles Lakers after his rookie season.
Bryant came to the Wizards as a project, hoping to add depth at best at center behind Dwight Howard and Ian Mahinmi. However, Howard missed 73 games as he required lower back surgery. Mahinmi was well… Mahinmi. Bryant was whisked into a large role as the Wizards’ starting center.
He started 53 games and appeared in 72, averaging 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 20.8 minutes per game.
Once you dig deeper into analytics, the evidence to why the Wizards are so intrigued into the promising big.
His 5.6 win-share was only second to Bradley Beal on the Wizards. He led the team with 21.0 PER. His 68.5 percent shooting on two-point shots actually led the NBA.
Thomas Bryant was limited with playing time as he was simply just too unpolished on both ends of the floor to trust for long stretches. Yet, there is a lot of untapped potential in the former Indiana product.
Just glance at his PER36 stats that include 18.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks.
The Wizards only had a one-year trial, and Bryant showed enough to yearn to see where he develops. That’s why a three-year deal worth $25 million is perfect settlement for both sides.
The Wizards have an $8.33 million per year center that has the potential of becoming one of the better bigs in the NBA. The price also is a win for Bryant, who only has 87 games under his belt at the NBA level and still managed a nice pay raise from the $1.3 million (non-guaranteed) that he made last season.
One doesn’t have to look too far to see how that’s a steal for Washington. Mahinmi is set to make $15.45 million in 2019-20 to just sit at the end of the bench, presuming he isn’t moved in a trade.
Thankfully, the market has reset for traditional bigs, and Mahinmi’s deal with the Wizards certainly has played a huge part in it.
With little to no wiggle room in the salary cap, the Wizards are forced to build their roster for next season with re-signing their pending free agents and using their four trade exceptions.
Re-upping Bryant is a great start. At the price tag the deal is for, the Wizards give themselves some flexibility in the future. Let’s just hope any further deals will be just as lenient, including pending deals for Tomas Satoransky, Bobby Portis, and/or Jabari Parker.
For years the Wizards have searched for an answer at center, trading and signing low-ceiling veterans such as Marcin Gortat, Howard, and Mahinmi, yet their long-term answer was a project of a kid that has no ceiling in a soon-to-be 22 years of age Thomas Bryant.
