Washington Wizards were reportedly close to signing Luol Deng, who’s having the worst season of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
After years of saving up for summer ’16, the Washington Wizards whiffed on free agency, missing out on all of the top available players.
Ernie Grunfeld then turned to plan B: acquiring role players to revamp the second unit and regain the team’s defensive identity.
Grunfeld signed Ian Mahinmi to a $64 million contract and added several young pieces, including Tomas Satoransky, Trey Burke and Andrew Nicholson.
Washington had shifted the team’s focus towards youth, altering the entire culture of the organization.
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The Wizards suddenly became a team full of potential after carrying a roster comprised of veterans that were well behind their respective primes.
On paper, the Wizards seemed to have improved their team enough to compete for a top spot in the Eastern Conference, despite failing to sign a premier free agent.
The Mahinmi signing, specifically, was the primary acquisition that was supposed to propel the Wizards among the East’s elite.
But with over a quarter of the season in the books, Mahinmi has played in just one game and suffered another setback with his knee after requiring procedure that will sideline him for six more weeks.
The signing, in hindsight, has arguably been one of the worst of the free agency period.
Before even signing Mahinmi, though, the Washington Wizards were reportedly eyeing another free agent that hasn’t lived up to expectations.
According to Zach Lowe, the Wizards were close to signing Luol Deng, who later agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers badly overpaid for Deng; Washington had traction with Deng on a three-year deal worth $20 million less overall than L.A. ended up paying, and was stunned to learn of L.A.’s offer, according to several league sources.
The deal would’ve paid Deng over $17 million per season for three years, according to Lowe. That’s roughly $1 million less than what the Washington Wizards are currently set to pay for Mahinmi’s services.
As Lowe noted, Deng reached a contract agreement with the Lakers that will pay him $20 million more than what the Wizards would’ve.
Deng is averaging a career-low 8 points on 39 percent shooting from the field. The former All-Star has struggled to find a rhythm under Luke Walton and is having the worst season of his career, at least statistically.
While the Lakers would obviously want to get more production out of their highest paid player, Deng has been a locker room leader for the Lakers, who are considered one of the league’s most promising young teams.
Washington dodged a bullet with the Deng signing. The 31-year-old forward played 40 minutes per game in Chicago and will likely never put up the numbers he did earlier in his career.
With that said, the Wizards didn’t do themselves a favor by signing Mahinmi, who’s struggled to stay healthy and has yet to make any impact on the team.
