Kristaps Porzingis made an instant impact when he joined the Wizards a few months ago. Photo: AP.

They say that in basketball, as in every other sport, talent trumps all. In trading for Kristaps Porzingis at this season’s deadline, the Washington Wizards made their talent play.

They’ll look to combine a healthy Bradley Beal with the tantalising, but so often disappointing, Latvian giant, then build around that pair.

There certainly is talent on this roster, but with a precarious cap situation, how can the Wizards and their aggressive general manager Tommy Sheppard keep a rebuild, that has moved in fits and starts, going in the right direction?

The roster

Since Sheppard took over in 2019, he’s orchestrated 14 separate trades, leaving only Beal and free agent centre Thomas Bryant as holdovers from the previous regime.

Sheppard isn’t afraid to take monstrous swings. He’s already traded for, and traded away, Russell Westbrook – realistically winning both trades – before making a move for Porzingis a few months back.

That manoeuvring sees talent all over the roster, headlined by Beal. Still just 28, the three-time All-Star suffered quite the letdown from his career year of 2021. Injuries restricted Beal to just 40 appearances, and surely contributed to his relatively poor campaign, but his 23.2 points per game were more than eight points off his 2021 tally, with his three-point shooting falling to a career low 30 per cent. He’ll be looking for good health and a bounce-back campaign.

Porzingis put up 22 and eight, with 1.5 blocks, after coming over from Dallas. That said, he’s yet to appear alongside Beal and as such was the primary option for a Wizards side that fell away sharply through the backend of the season.

How he fairs as the Robin to Beal’s Batman is the $64,000 question in Washington. He struggled in Dallas when former coach Rick Carlisle heavily featured Luka Doncic. Whilst he performed better under new Mavericks coach Jason Kidd in a more central role, the team itself suffered, recovering only once the Latvian was traded.

Beal has proven that he can be an offence unto himself, so Porzingis will be the one who will have to make the bigger sacrifices. How he and Porzingis gel could be the bellwether for these Wizards.

Elsewhere, the team has a phalanx of solid forwards led by Kyle Kuzma. The former Laker quietly put up career best play as a Wizard, giving his new team 17.1 points and 8.5 boards with close to a block per game.

His defence was by far the best he’s played as a pro. He was also the man that emerged as Washington’s late game closer, hitting an array of clutch shots.

Alongside him is a trio of fascinating youngsters in Deni Avdija, Rui Hachimura and the sharpshooting Corey Kispert. Alongside Kuzma they form a young, talented and versatile quartet. Kuzma aside, each have quite a bit of growth left in them, as well.

Bryant was seen as the Wizards centre of the future just two years ago, when he tore his ACL. Since that injury, he’s seen the team trade for Daniel Gafford, Vernon Carey and Porzingis. There’s no room in this rotation for Bryant, but the Wizards’ depth at the pivot is nonetheless very strong.

At guard, however, the cupboard is just about bare.

Beal is a star, but there is precious little in the backcourt alongside him. The delightfully named Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (who, if he weren’t a pro athlete would surely be a 17th-century British land owner) was solid and whilst his contract for next season is non-guaranteed he’ll surely be retained.

At the point, they have three veterans, all with contract questions. Ish Smith is on a fully non-guaranteed deal whilst Raul Neto and Tomas Satoransky are both free agents. It’s unlikely the team will retain all three.

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Team needs

You can certainly quibble over the quality of the Wizards’ forward and centre rotations, but they seem to be set at those positions for the time being. Porzingis could be a star, Kuzma is an elite role player, Avdija hasn’t developed as an offensive player to the level the club would have hoped, but that’s countered by a defensive acumen that is well beyond what was expected.

Meanwhile, Gafford is a shot-blocking pogo stick, and Hachimura’s current range of outcomes falls somewhere between future All-Star and playing in Europe by 2025 – he could be anything. One way or another, they’ve got something to work with at the bigger positions.

Beal aside, though, that guard rotation is non-existent.

One of the many advantages of Bradley Beal is that he’s just as effective as a lead ballhandler as he is an off-the-ball scorer. That means that the team doesn’t need to focus on acquiring a genuine point guard as Beal’s backcourt running mate.

Rather, given how Beal struggled next to Spencer Dinwiddie, the Wiz would be wise to look at a combo guard to start alongside their star man.

Even beyond the starting role, though, Washington needs to flesh out that guard rotation. As mentioned above it’s expected that the team ink Caldwell-Pope to a new deal, or at the very least guarantee the final year of his deal. They’ll also more than likely re-sign one of those three free agent point guards on the roster.

The favourite to return is Satoransky, who is one of those special players that seems to only be able to perform in a particular uniform. Everywhere else he’s popped up on his NBA odyssey, he’s underperformed. As a Wizard, he’s a solid rotation piece.

The cap sheet

Assuming the team picks up all of its current team options and guarantees Caldwell-Pope, the Wizards sit right on the salary cap of $122 million; their first-round pick will put them over by about $4 million.

Whichever point guard the team chooses to bring back will bring it closer to the luxury tax, though not nearly enough to truly threaten that $149 million line. The Wizards also have their $10.3 million mid-level exception to use on another signing.

What could really alter the Wizards’ cap sheet is any potential new deal for Beal. He has a player option for the 2023 season, though he’s expected to opt out with the intention of signing a long-term deal with the team. If Beal signs the maximum available deal, his current $36 million deal would be replaced by a $42 million cap hit.

It’s also worth keeping an eye on what happens with Hachimura, who is in the last year of his rookie deal in 2023.

The draft

The Wizards will pick at 10 in the first round of the upcoming NBA draft. Given their depth at forward and centre, it makes complete sense that the team will focus on drafting a guard.

At the point, the only real option is TyTy Washington. Should they decide Beal is their de facto point guard, opening up the option of drafting a two-guard, then the board opens right up.

The impressively athletic Ochai Agbaji is one option. He could be this draft’s Desmond Bane. Washington could also look at the versatile Johnny Davis, a player that seems to be able to shapeshift to what his team requires. For this writer, the option has to be Dyson Daniels, a player that allows the Wizards to have their cake and eat it, too.

The Australian combo guard projects as the perfect complement to Beal. A natural point guard, Daniels is perfectly comfortable playing away from the ball where his spot-up shooting should give Beal space to cook.

Defensively he’s got all the tools. At 6’7” with long arms, quick feet and excellent anticipation, he could develop into a genuine defensive ace who could grant Beal the luxury of marking a lesser player each and every possession. He’d make this Wizards team dangerously long and lithe.

Daniels is the son of an (albeit lower level) former pro, so knows what it takes to survive as a professional athlete.

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