The off-season officially started with the draft last Thursday, and the Wizards wasted no time in making a splash. Heading into draft night, there were two players rumored to be on the radar for them, point guard Jerian Grant and power forward Kevon Looney. The Wizards would draft neither. Instead, they traded with the Atlanta Hawks for their 15th pick, which was small forward, Kelly Oubre Jr. You can read how the selection of Oubre Jr. helps address the Wizards' need of another shooter on the roster by looking at the draft grade and analysis.
Even though the Wizards were able to deepen their depth at small forward, they missed positions that they were targeting in the beginning, which they will have to look to take advantage of throughout the rest of the off-season.
Team Needs:
Back Up Point Guard
NBA Summer League kicks off July 4th and the Wizards have announced two players that could battle for a spot on the official roster at the point guard position, Dez Wells and Rodrique Beaubois. Wells was signed after going undrafted out of Maryland University. He primarily played shooting guard in college, but with his height and specific ability, he will have to make the transition to point guard in the NBA. Even though the transition from point guard to shooting guard is a difficult, one that not many players have successfully accomplished, Wells has the athleticism and basketball IQ to do so.
Beaubois has four years of NBA experience all being with the Dallas Mavericks where he was a spark off the bench at the point guard position. Beaubois is definitely an offensive-minded point guard as he averaged 8.9 points in just 21 minutes per game during his best season with Dallas, but he is looking to get back into the NBA after having short stints in Belgium and France. One thing he will have to do if he wants to successfully make it back into the league is adjust his game slightly into being more of a point guard that can facilitate the offense and create for his teammates.
The Wizards will most likely take one of these two players since their playing styles are similar, but if they both play poorly all summer, the Wizards will not settle and will have to take their search for a back up point guard on market in free agency. Now the Wizards aren't going to go for the big names in free agency for point guard because for one, they will be too expensive and two, they are looking for a player who can produce off the bench behind John Wall.
There are two unrestricted free agents that could fit perfectly with what the Wizards are looking for while also being affordable, Aaron Brooks and J.J. Barea.
Brooks has been an underrated point guard coming off the bench for the Chicago Bulls since Derrick Rose has been plagued with the injury bug. His entire career, Brooks has been able to score the basketball even though he stands just six-feet tall. This past season for the Bulls, he averaged 11.6 points and 3.2 assists while shooting 38.7 percent from deep in 23 minutes per game. For the Wizards' sake, it will help with the struggle of the back-up point guard position and three-point shooting depth.
Barea is a point guard who can facilitate an offense efficiently while also providing energy and toughness to a lineup. Throughout his nine seasons in the NBA, he has played for the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves. Barea was a key player off the bench for Dallas in 2011 when they defeated the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. This past season he averaged 7.3 points and 3.4 assists per game. He is a well-rounded point guard who could greatly help the Wizards get production out of their bench lineup.
Stretch Four
The Wizards' biggest need this off-season is to acquire a power forward that can stretch the floor. Right now, Nene has one year left on his contract and there have been rumors that they would look to deal him elsewhere. Even if they were to keep Nene for next season, the Wizards have to address their weakness at stretch four immediately because they have struggled for years against opposing stretch power forwards.
The Wizards aren't going to go after the franchise players who are available at the position like Kevin Love or LaMarcus Aldridge. A big reason for this is because they want to prepare for free agency in 2016 to offer Kevin Durant a max deal. So after the franchise players, there is only really one unrestricted free agent that would make sense for the Wizards to pursue. Jonas Jerebko, who has played for Detroit and Boston, is a guy who could help the Wizards tremendously. At 6'10", Jerebko shot above 40 percent from three once he was traded to Boston halfway through last season.
John Wall hasn't had the privilege as of yet to play with a big man who can pop out to the three-point line and knock down shots consistently. It would not only help open the lane for him to penetrate for scores and assists, but it would also give Marcin Gortat room on the block to operate where he scores so efficiently.
There isn't any other stretch fours who are on the market and could realistically be signed by the Wizards. There haven't been any talks in pursuing Jerebko, but he would make the Wizards a much more dangerous team by spreading the floor.
Before including the Wizards in any championship talks, they have to address at least one of these two positions. Even though the season was cut shorter than expected last year against the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, that series provided confidence for the Wizards to take the next step this upcoming season to become a feared team around the league.