Washington Wizards guard Garrett Temple and has decided to opt in and remain in the Nation’s Capital for the 2015-16 season. Following from J. Michael of CSN Washington:
“Backup guard Garrett Temple will return for the 2015-16 season, he told CSNwashington.com on Tuesday via text message, and has notified the Wizards that he is exercising his opt-in clause in his contract.”
Temple is a decent reserve but he didn’t crack the rotation that much during Washington’s playoff run this past season. The Wiz are getting him at the veteran’s minimum $1,100,602 for next season, meaning it won’t hurt the team financially a whole lot. Temple could’ve expected about the same amount of money on the open market had he bypassed his option and became a free agent this summer. Also, Temple did start the first portion of the season in which he played a major role during star guard Bradley Beal’s injury. Without Temple playing the way he was early on, the Wizards wouldn’t have gotten off to the hot start which could’ve doomed them due to how mediocre they looked after the All Star break.
Whether Temple can crack the rotation next year is up for discussion. He obviously won’t start over Beal or John Wall but he could end up being key off the bench. It depends on whether Will Bynum decides to stay in the district or go back to China and how the Wizards plan on utilizing swingman Martell Webster next season. Washington has also been rumored to be looking for more backcourt help via the draft, most notably Jerian Grant of Notre Dame. Either way it’s always good to have as much insurance as possible behind the injury prone Beal.
