Kevin Durant is not going to be a Washington Wizard. The Wizards brass have come to accept this fact, and are moving on to other, lesser options. Their new priority won’t excite fans quite as much as Durant would have. It’s stretch-four Ryan Anderson. From CSN Mid-Atlantic’s J. Michael:
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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Anderson, sources tell CSN, likely won’t make a decision until Durant makes his on whether or not to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder. Some of the teams that have their sights on Durant have Anderson high on their radars, too. This is why the price for Anderson is projected to rise but the Wizards will have about $30 million in cap room.
CSN reported earlier Monday that the team had interest in forward Darrell Arthur of the Denver Nuggets. They’ll have about eight roster spots to fill so there are a lot of moving pieces in play. Their interest in Anderson, however, is much greater.
Anderson would bring spacing to the Wizards’ frontcourt. Stretch-fours are valuable in today’s NBA, and Anderson would help Washington improve despite his lack of defense.
This season for the Pelicans, Anderson averaged 17.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 36.6% from beyond the arc. Anderson’s career average from range is 37.7%, and he shot a career-high 40.9% from that distance in 2013-14 (albeit in just 22 games).
