National Basketball Association

Washington Wizards Mailbag Monday: Wizards Have Legitimate Positional Competition

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Washington Wizards expected competition in training camp and a number of players, including Ian Mahinmi and Kelly Oubre, could play big roles.

It’s that time again.

Once the off-season began, we stopped doing Mailbag Monday because we weren’t too excited about answering questions about Kevin Durant every week. Durant is with the Golden State Warriors now and the #KD2DC dream is dead.

But, the Washington Wizards are (almost) back.

Training camp wrapped up last week and the Wizards will begin their preseason campaign on Tuesday against the Miami Heat.

There’s no better time to start Mailbag Monday than now.

As always, many thanks to our valued readers who constantly ask questions.

This week, the questions came from Twitter and Reddit.

Is Andrew Nicholson alive? Does he exist? Haven’t heard a peep about him since he signed. Don’t think anyone’s interviewed him. Is his old man face repelling interest? – via kubideh_kaczynski

Andrew Nicholson is a handsome young man and any comment about his face shall be put down. Plus, the dude can really play basketball – like, he’s actually super good at the sport.

Nicholson was a straight-up steal. Before coming to Washington, Nicholson never played for a coach known for developing players.

More from Wiz of Awes

He has a fresh start in D.C.

It’s not one of those situations where a bad player is coming into a new situation and there’s a small chance that the change will help.

Nicholson is a diamond.

Per-36 minutes, Nicholson averaged 17 points and 9 rebounds with the Orlando Magic last year.

Better yet, he drilled 36 percent of his 3-point shots.

He didn’t attempt a single three in his rookie season and shot 114 of them last year.

That’s development.

But, for some reason, he didn’t get much run.

Back to your question, though.

I attended media day and forgot Nicholson existed too. He’s super low-key, both on and off the court. He’ll quietly become one of Washington’s most productive bench players this season. He won’t say much, but he’ll get buckets. That’s all that matters.

Will Kelly Oubre win MVP? – via NatP44

He won’t win the award in reality, but he’s already won it in my heart. He’s got so much steeze.

DeAndre Jordan led the NBA in total dunks with 227 last year. Will Tomas Satoransky crack that number? Did you even ask me that question? The answer is no to both questions.

You know we’re going to see Air Sato soar through the sky, Pasquale. You know we will. The man was born to fly. So that’s what he’s going to do.

Is Otto v Oubre for real? – A’notha Challa

It actually is real.

Scott Brooks didn’t want to commit to any starters for opening day, but we know four positions are locked up. Really, Otto Porter is more than likely going to remain the starting small-forward too, but Brooks wants Oubre to fight for it.

The way the second unit is structured, it actually wouldn’t be too surprising if Oubre gets the nod over Porter. The bench lacks a serious threat.

When you think of Porter you probably don’t think “serious threat,” but he would be for a backup. He’s apparently played very well during training camp and had the best season of his career last year.

Oubre would be able to thrive along side John Wall and Bradley Beal. Athletically, he’s on a different level. Porter is skilled – he can defend well, moves without the ball and has found a stroke from deep – but he lacks the burst that Oubre possesses.

It’s for real, but ultimately, Porter will likely remain the starter. Competition, though, is healthy for both players.

I try to remain optimistic, but realistically, I can’t think of a scenario where having two starting-caliber centers worked out. Both Marcin Gortat and Ian Mahinmi naturally want to be the starting center.

Mahinmi is making more money than Gortat to be a backup. More importantly, he does some things better than Gortat. He was a top-10 defender last year and Brooks might choose to close games with him instead of Gortat. Knowing what we know about the Polish Machine, I think we can assume that he, too, wants to close games. It might become a problem.

Once the trade deadline comes closer, it wouldn’t surprise me if either player is listed in the rumor mill. Gortat has a few years left on his deal and it’s relatively affordable. Washington might look to add some wing depth by parting ways with Gortat in the future.

Do I see it working, though? My optimistic side says yes, but my realistic side says no.

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