2018 NBA Mock Draft: The summer is decision time

Writing early this season over at The Step Back about Kelly Oubre’s development in Washington, Jeff Siegel noted that it can, at times, look like Oubre might be better served a little higher up the totem pole for some other team. The Wizards, led by John Wall and Bradley Beal, do not need a third co-star. They need excellent role players, and Washington’s front office has found quite a few.

Oubre will make $3 million the next two seasons, at which point he will get paid, just like Otto Porter did after charting a similar course out of college. The point here, regarding this carousel of player development in our nation’s capitol, is that teams that are able to find productive young players consistently hold a massive advantage over those who disregard the draft. Oubre and Porter give the Wizards team-controlled rotation pieces that allow the team’s playoff streak to continue.

It is paramount that they continue to find those guys. Their focus, especially at this point in the draft, should be on big men. The success of Porter and Oubre is even more profound when compared with the overpays Washington has forked out for veterans who are vastly inferior.

Williams, in this situation, would be the cheaper alternative to Ian Mahinmi, who Washington signed to a massive deal in 2016. They are similar players, but Williams is more valuable to an expensive team that needs forward momentum.