Who needs Kevin Durant when you can pursue…Ryan Anderson?
With the Washington Wizards firmly out of the Durant free-agent sweepstakes, CSN Mid Atlantic’s J. Michael says they have turned their attentions to more realistic targets, including the New Orleans Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson:
Now that Kevin Durant has dropped from the wish list for the Wizards with free agency set to open at the end of the week, Ryan Anderson is their next priority, multiple league sources tell CSNmidatlantic.com on Monday, and they’ll make an aggressive move in hopes of securing the three-point shooting forward.
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The Wizards will have a lot of competition for Anderson’s services. He may command in the range of $17 million in the open market, one league GM projected in an interview with CSN recently. At that number, however, it could be problematic for the Wizards’ front office.
Anderson would be a solid fit in Washington. He rebounds and shoots threes and should be able to feast off a steady dose of drive and kicks from John Wall.
But paying near-max money for him is a risky venture, even if you’re bringing back Bradley Beal. Suddenly you have around $70 million per year invested in this core of Anderson, Beal, Marcin Gortat and Wall. That’s not a championship nucleus, and it’s one that hamstrings Washington financially even as the salary cap explodes again in 2017.
For the Wizards’ sake, knowing they can carve out max room without sacrificing Beal, they need to hope pursuing, and perhaps signing, Anderson doesn’t cost them the chance to sign at least one more impact free agent.
