Wizards Face Big 2-Year Investment
Two years after the Wizards initiated an aggressive rebuilding effort in 2010 — and were fortunate to land the No. 1 overall pick in John Wall — they have accumulated draft picks and used trades to play the free agent game with their salary cap space. That financial flexibility has been used on Nene, Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza.
That’s one solid big man who has been a borderline all-star a few times and two serviceable players and noted defenders throughout their careers – for a total of nearly $70 million over the next two years. Is that enough to ignite a fan base and produce massive season ticket purchases? Probably not. Is it enough to encourage Wall about the future of the organization? That remains to be seen.
It’s easy to say that the Wizards should continue to simply build through the draft and possibly follow the Oklahoma City model, but there is a reason the Thunder cannot be duplicated: Rarely can a team draft a once-in-a-generation scorer, a freakishly-athletic point guard and a skilled scorer and playmaker in consecutive drafts.
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