NBA Draft 2014: Washington Wizards and the Pros and Cons of Selling A 2nd Round Pick by Oscar Adams

Remember when NBA “insiders” broke news on Twitter? Yeah, I don’t either.

John Wall made sure to spoil the surprise by letting everyone know that Marcin Gortat, who was the Washington Wizards’ number one priority this summer, has agreed to a new deal with the team. The report was confirmed by Michael Lee of the Washington Post, who included some contractual details.

Just got it confirmed. Marcin Gortat just agreed to a 5-year deal to return the #wizards, according to a league source. — Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) July 2, 2014

The contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, is for 5-years/$60 million.

Marcin Gortat has agreed to a five year, $60 million contract extension with Washington, league source tells Yahoo Sports. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 2, 2014

Despite getting interest from multiple teams around the NBA, it seems like Marcin Gortat never really contemplated leaving the nation’s capital. Washington made a push to the semi-finals in the NBA Playoffs for the first time in about a decade, and as a result, retaining Marcin Gortat was the Wizards’ number one priority this summer.

Marcin Gortat is 30-years old, but has played less minutes than Blake Griffin and doesn’t have much mileage. He played in 81 games this past season and has stayed healthy throughout the course of his career. Marcin Gortat averaged 13.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in his first season with the Washington Wizards after getting traded from the Phoenix Suns.

Even though some fans will inevitably complain about the deal, the Washington Wizards have to keep their core together in order to compete, and by re-signing Marcin Gortat, they’ll have one of their keys to success on both ends of the floor back for the next five years.

Good centers such as Marcin Gortat don’t come cheap and it was no surprise that his contract was similar to that of Nikola Pekovic, who signed a new deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves last year.

What are your thoughts on the contract? Let me know in the comments.

For now, let’s welcome the Polish Hammer back to Washington.