Washington Wizards NBA Draft 2015 Preview: Why They Should Trade For Another Pick

Washington Wizards NBA Draft 2015 Preview: Why They Should Trade For Another Pick by Osman Baig

The Washington Wizards have a number of players entering unrestricted free agency, including: Kevin Seraphin, Will Bynum, Drew Gooden and Rasual Butler.

They also have a few players with player options.

Garrett Temple signed a two-year deal this past off-season, with the second year a player option. Although he didn’t get much playing time during the 2014-2015 NBA season, Temple will stick around.

Just heard Garrett Temple opted in for next season with the Washington Wizards @BBallInsiders — Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) June 15, 2015

Garrett Temple will earn just slightly over $1.1 million from the Washington Wizards next season.

The 6’6″ combo-guard averaged 3.9 points per game last year in 52 appearances. Temple was utilized as the team’s primary backup point guard after Eric Maynor failed to do anything positive before last year’s trade deadline. Temple was eventually replaced in the rotation by Andre Miller, who the team acquired for Jan Vesely and Maynor.

Randy Wittman has always liked having utility players on his roster and that’s exactly what Garrett Temple is.

He’s capable of playing three positions, and although he doesn’t necessarily do anything great on the court, Temple is a capable defender and he made nearly 38 percent of his three point shots last year.

When Bradley Beal got hurt at the beginning of the season, Temple scored 12+ points in four consecutive games.

He hit about half of his three point attempts during that hot-streak, but unfortunately wasn’t able to keep up the stellar play as the season went on.

There was even some talk about potentially bringing Beal off the bench. Obviously, that never happened and Temple lost his spot in the rotation.

Did Ernie Grunfeld need to extend a second-year player option to Garrett Temple? Probably not. I do think that Garrett Temple deserves a spot on an NBA roster, though. He’s a versatile guard, and more importantly, he’s a great locker room leader. Temple has always done a good job of staying ready for his name to get called.

Washington will now wait for Paul Pierce to make a decision, who also has a player option for next season. The Los Angeles Clippers recently traded for Lance Stephenson and lost Matt Barnes in the deal. Perhaps Doc Rivers believes Pierce will decline his option to finish his career playing for his hometown?

Garrett Temple will return next season. His contract won’t hinder the Wizards at all and the move was expected. Welcome back, G-Temp.