- 7,377
- 29,090
I don't think that's accurate. Reports had the Wizards offer at $6.6 million for NEXT season with a player option for a second year.Yea, it sucks we're losing him....Paul
Although, I can't fault Pierce for wanting to wrap up his career at home (plus an extra 3mil in salary than what the Wizards were offering).
The Clippers' offer was HALF that per season, and there's no way Pierce is playing the third year. Not only did he leave for less money than the Wizards offered - but he left for less money than he would've been owed had he exercised his player option.
You can say he wanted to finish his career at home, but that's still a pretty good knock on the Wizards' organization.
I'm not quite sure where the team goes from here, either. They need to keep as much space open as possible in the vain hope of attracting KD next summer, so they can't afford to go all out. (Remember, they have to extend Beal next summer, too.) This really forces Otto into a starting role, and likely requires Oubre - who most consider a long term project (every Wizards fan's favorite phrase) to contribute something right away.
You look at who's left on the board in free agency and most of the possibilities just make you cringe. If Aminu's getting $30 million over 4 years and Shumpert is commanding $40 million... I shudder to think about how likely we are to drastically overpay for a role player we won't even want in twelve months.
Speaking of which....
I hate to say "I told you so" about Kris Humphries, but he was clearly not part of the team's playoff run and he's stuck on the books for 2 more years. That's salary we could've used this summer and next.
Even with Atlanta swinging the door wide open in the Southeast, I wouldn't be surprised to see Miami leapfrog us next season, health permitting. This was a big loss we're unlikely to fill, and with everything riding on 2016 it'll be difficult to bring in any quality replacements within our budget while retaining flexibility.
That's why Pierce was so perfect. He could've helped us PROVE to the likes of Kevin Durant that we're winners without committing major salary into 2016-2017. Frankly, we should've been willing to go into the luxury zone and give Pierce the type of one year offer that he couldn't refuse. A guy like David West will want more years and more money than we can responsibly offer. You'd have a hard enough time replacing Pierce's production on the court for $8 million next season if you consider today's reported agreements, and there IS no replacement on the market for what Pierce brought to our locker room.
Any substantial free agent signings this summer could easily prove disastrous. The open market is not our friend right now. I would MUCH rather try to make something happen with our trade exceptions than watch Ernie hurl money at the likes of Mirza Teletovic.