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NBA Free Agency 2018: 5 offseason targets for the Washington Wizards

By Jerry Christodoulatos

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: John Wall
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: John Wall /
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WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 19: John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards and DeMarcus Cousins #0 of the New Orleans Pelicans shake hands after the game on December 19, 2017 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 19: John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards and DeMarcus Cousins #0 of the New Orleans Pelicans shake hands after the game on December 19, 2017 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. /

2. DeMarcus Cousins

Last summer, the Wizards dealing for Boogie Cousins would’ve been a pipe dream. Now I’m not so sure. Coming off of a brutal Achilles injury, the market for DeMarcus Cousins is one of the most interesting NBA unknowns heading into the summer. The Pelicans have indicated that they want to bring back the mercurial big man. But given their run of success without him, a sign and trade doesn’t seem out of the question.

Such a transaction would come with substantial salary cap complications, beyond the obvious risk of taking on a guy that’s rehabbing an Achilles rupture.  A sign-and-trade would hard cap the Wizards at the spending Apron next season. They would have to get below the Apron, which was about $6 million above the tax line last season, to pull off the deal. The cap gymnastics would be tricky, but if Cousins were willing to sign at a level below the max a trade could benefit both sides.

Because of the college connection between Cousins and Wall, DeMarcus has oft been tied to Washington in the past. Trade scenarios that have floated around for the past two years have always involved Otto Porter. Though he’s probably overpaid, Porter is an effective wing player in a league that covets wings. And the Pelicans are in desperate need of bodies on the wing. Moving on from Porter, the second best shooter on the Wizards, would hurt, especially because Washington would be getting an unknown quantity in a rehabbing Boogie.  Furthermore, inserting the notoriously temperamental Cousins into an already combustible locker room environment has high calamity potential. But given the situation the Wizards find themselves in, they might need to make this kind of move. Taking an enormous risk might be their only way to reach some higher level of potential.

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