The Washington Wizards may currently have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment, given that they're on the outside looking in at the play-in tournament at the moment, but it's never too early to start planning for the future. With Bradley Beal locked up to a supermax deal until at least the end of the 2025-26 season, it's of utmost importance for the Wizards to surround him with the talent necessary to build, at the very least, a playoff-caliber team.

Thus, it's no surprise that the Wizards are planning to keep Kristaps Porzingis in the nation's capital. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Porzingis and the Wizards front office “have been seriously discussing” a new contract extension that would entail the 7'3 Latvian forward opting out of his $36 million option for next season.

The maximum contract extension the Wizards can offer Porzingis is a four-year, $180 million deal, which would represent a nine million raise in the average annual value of the contract he was going to make should he decide to opt into his existing deal.

The Wizards' cap situation isn't particularly ideal for a team below .500. At the moment, they have a 34-42 record, so tying up a considerable amount of money to a Bradley Beal-Kristaps Porzingis core could give pundits and fans some pause as to whether they truly are getting their bang for their buck.

Nevertheless, given Beal's huge contract, the Wizards don't have too many avenues to improve their roster, especially with the lack of free agent interest in D.C. Thus, keeping the Latvian forward around appears to be their best option to remain semi-competitive, and perhaps, they could even trade for a disgruntled star when the opportunity arises.

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image idea: (left to right) kristaps porzingis, joe mazzulla, and jrue holiday looking serious on a Miami city background

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In addition to a potential contract extension for Porzingis, the Wizards would also have to take care of Kyle Kuzma's contract situation. Kuzma is widely expected to decline his $13 million option for next year, potentially further clogging the Wizards' cap sheet.

Porzingis is currently in the middle of a strong, relatively injury-free season with the Wizards. In 65 games, he has averaged 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks a night.