Washington Wizards Need To Waive Two Big Men

With Bradley Beal, Nene, Otto Porter, Gary Neal, Alan Anderson and Drew Gooden all out, the Washington Wizards were limited to just 9 active bodies against the Sacramento Kings on Monday night. The problem is, Randy Wittman has only played seven guys.

Only John Wall, Garrett Temple, Kelly Oubre, Jared Dudley, Marcin Gortat, Ramon Sessions and Kris Humphries saw real action on Monday. The two other players on the roster — both healthy — Ryan Hollins and DeJuan Blair, did not play.

Washington is limited to what they can do given their injuries. They’ve surprisingly been competitive and have won two straight games over respectable opponents. However, players like Wall, Temple, Dudley and Gortat have all played a ridiculous amount of minutes and need rest.

Instead of wasting roster spots on players whom Wittman has no intention of playing, the Washington Wizards need to create space and sign guys who they can actually rely on.

Blair is no longer the player he used to be. He’s had some solid flashes this season, but he’s still one of the worst rim protecting big men in the NBA and he seems incapable of stepping on the court without decapitating someone.

Hollins was signed after Nene and Gooden went down with injuries, but we’ve rarely seen the journeyman big step on the court.

He, like Blair, isn’t good at anything.

Really, the signing didn’t make much sense from the get-go, especially since there are other capable big men available on the market.

Hollins started in place of Gortat after the Polish big man traveled to his home country to visit his ailing mother, but only played five minutes before getting benched.

Hollins is good at running in transition, which is something the Wizards need from their bigs, but he can’t catch passes in traffic nor finish inside.

Hollins is currently on a non-guaranteed contract and the Washington Wizards have until December 27th to waive him, otherwise his contract will become guaranteed for the remainder of the season.

Since Hollins hasn’t gotten any playing time (and that won’t change anytime soon), the Wizards must waive him before his contract becomes guaranteed. Not only should they waive Hollins, but Ernie Grunfeld needs to waive DeJuan Blair, who’s also been taking up a roster spot for no apparent reason.

The Wizards, who waived Martell Webster earlier this season because they needed roster spots, need all the healthy bodies they can get. Playing just seven players is incredibly irresponsible and will increase players’ chances of getting hurt. Playing Wall 40+ minutes each game is simple unacceptable.

Waiving Hollins is a no-brainer at this point. Nene and Gooden are expected to return sometime next week, so the Wizards will have Hollins on the bench until then. Once those two bigs return, Hollins will become virtually useless.

Washington will likely opt to waive Hollins before his contract becomes guaranteed, but they should do the same with Blair, who’s on a guaranteed contract.

Unless the Washington Wizards could find a trade for Blair, they need to clear up a roster spot for someone who will actually play. Again: playing just seven players for numerous games isn’t acceptable.

Hollins and Blair are both terrific teammates and it’s a shame that their basketball skills don’t match up to their off-court personalities. The NBA is a brutal business, but the Wizards aren’t there to make friends nor pay people to do nothing. They’re depleted and need active bodies. Hollins and Blair, simply put, need to go.