Andrew Nicholson was made an unrestricted free agent after the Orlando Magic declined to make a qualifying off to the stretch four. Immediately, he was viewed as a potential steal for many teams. He’s a prototypical forward fit for today’s NBA style.
Nicholson didn’t stay on the open market for long, the Wizards, who also traded for point guard Trey Burke and agreed to terms with Ian Mahinmi, agreed to a deal with Nicholson.
Following from Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo! Sports.
Free-agent forward Andrew Nicholson has agreed to a four-year, $26 million contract with the Washington Wizards. Nicholson’s deal includes a player option after the third year.
The Magic didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Nicholson, allowing him to bypass restricted free agency and become unrestricted. Nicholson’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, worked with Orlando general manager Rob Hennigan to allow Nicholson to gain his freedom because of the logjam of forwards in Orlando, sources said.
Nicholson, a 2012 first-round pick out of St. Bonaventure, played his first four NBA seasons with the Orlando Magic. When Orlando acquired Serge Ibaka in a trade and then agreed to terms with big man Bismack Biyombo, his potential of returning to the team basically dropped to 0.
He had ability to play inside and outside and his shooting range that extends beyond the 3-point line. It allows second-unit offenses to play through him and a backup to Markieff Morris will most likely be his role.
