NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 offseason needs for the Washington Wizards

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May 7, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter Jr. (22) reacts against the Boston Celtics during the third quarter in game four of the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Time to look to the future

With Otto Porter’s most recent play, especially during the playoffs, most would argue that signing Porter is a priority this offseason. But is it really? It is no secret that Washington has their backs up against the wall, no pun intended with loaded salaries and squandered draft picks but do you continue to do so at the expense of a player who played well on an inconsistent basis?

During the regular season, Porter scored ten points or less 30 times. Not very consistent especially for a guy who will be looking to get paid a lot this summer. Porter also averaged around 13 points per game and shot an inflated 43 percent from downtown during the regular season. Why inflated? Porter attempted a little over four shots from behind the arc per contest and nailed about two of those. That’s nowhere near the 40 percent that Steph Curry had that saw him make four out of ten shots per game. However, it appears as if Porter’s 3-point percent is being used as one way to justify paying him the big bucks.

Yes, he’s a good player. Yes, he is going to get better. But why sign a guy to a potential max contract when you can save your pennies for a bigger name free agent next summer or beyond?
Or you can use that money to upgrade the horrible, disastrous bench.

Don’t get me wrong, Washington is better with Porter (his plus/minus reflects that) and odds are Porter will be better next season but potentially locking up another player to a six-figure salary may not be the way to go, especially when the team needs to get deeper. There are a million scenarios that can play out when it comes to signing players, salary cap space and things of that nature but maybe his year, Washington will have to take two steps back in order to move three steps forwards.

Re-signing Porter should be a priority but the days of being fiscally irresponsible in Washington need to come to an end. Signing Porter should only be done if it’s not at the expense of recklessly spending more money, something that that they did last summer.

Have I mentioned Ian Mahinmi yet?