There haven't been too many teams that'll knowingly be on the market to upgrade their roster with the season just beginning, but the Washington Wizards may have just let the cat out of the bag. At last place in the Eastern Conference, the Wizards are desperately looking for any solution that can help them storm the rankings.
After also taking a big hit in losing Thomas Bryant from a torn ACL, the Wizards may be looking to enter the market for another critical role player by applying for their $4.2 million DPE, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski:
The Washington Wizards are planning to apply for a $4.2M Disabled Player Exception with the season-ending injury to Thomas Bryant, sources tell ESPN. Once granted, the Wizards can use the spot to acquire a player for the rest of the season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 11, 2021
Bryant's season came to an end less than two minutes into the Wizards' outing against the Miami Heat. The big man collided with some of Miami's players, causing him to tear his ACL.
The Wizards already weren't off to the best start of the season, so losing one of their bright spots definitely doesn't aid in them turning things around. The 24-year old was averaging 14.3 points and 6.1 rebounds through 27.1 MPG. The fourth-year big was also connecting on 64 percent of his shots from the field on an average of 9.1 field goal attempts per game, detailing his efficiency.
Finding someone to replace Bryant's productivity will be increasingly challenging for the Wizards front office. By season's end, Bryant likely would've transformed himself into a formidable center given the trend his numbers were on through his first ten games.
Co-stars Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook simply haven't been enough to get Washington over the hump more times than not this season. The answers that Wizards brass is looking for may reside well beyond simply replacing Bryant.
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