Grading The Washington Wizards' 2015 NBA Free Agency

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The Washington Wizards‘ free agency performance must be looked upon as a failure so far because they weren’t able to retain Paul Pierce, a veteran who was great in the locker room and clutch on the court. They also swung and missed on David West, another experienced player who would’ve helped them tremendously in Pierce’s absence.

So what did the Wizards end up getting this summer? They brought back Drew Gooden on a one-year deal, which is a decent move considering it doesn’t tie up any 2016 cap room while keeping a guy who shot 46.2 percent from 3-point range in the playoffs. They also added Alan Anderson and Gary Neal on one-year deals, but it is unclear how many minutes either player will deserve in the coming season. Anderson just had a nice run for the Brooklyn Nets with a couple of solid playoff games to his credit, and Neal was wildly inconsistent last year and should be looking to improve his stock with a better showing in the 2015-2016 season.

Washington traded for Jared Dudley as well this summer in an exchange with the Milwaukee Bucks, and he will presumably play Pierce’s role for the Wizards next season and give John Wall a nice scoring option in the corner. But that wasn’t a free agency move, and so it plays only a small factor in my grade for Washington.

Overall, it is clear that the Wizards are going for Kevin Durant in 2016, and this kept them from making any major moves this offseason. As a result, they didn’t do much to improve their team for the coming year.

Team Grade: D+

Dave Daniels is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter: @AllDave_AllDay, like him on Facebook here or add him to your network on Google.

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