The Washington Wizards and forward Kristaps Porzingis have been in serious discussions about a new long-term deal, according to a report from The Athletic's Shams Charania.
Porzingis would opt out of his player option for next season, worth $36 million, and Washington can then offer him a maximum four-year, $180 million contract as an extension with a deadline to reach an agreement in late June, per Charanaia.
The Wizards, who have struggled with injuries and shaking off a slow start to the season, improved to 34-42 with a win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, but remain 2.5 games out of the race for the NBA play-in tournament.
Washington also faces a decision with forward Kyle Kuzma, who appears headed toward declining his $13 million player option for the 2023-24 season and electing unrestricted free agency. But there is mutual interest in a new deal.
After the trade deadline in early February, general manager Tommy Sheppard told The Team 980's Craig Hoffman the Wizards liked the prospects of keeping the Porzingis and Kuzma pairing with Bradley Beal.
"We like the picture of those guys playing together," Sheppard told Team 980. "I think Kyle's on an upswing and continues to get better. The numbers that we value, he's shown he's got a lot more layers to his game, a lot more to go. I think he, Bradley and Kristpas are able to be out there on the floor without really getting into each other's space, their shots work well off of each other. I like the balance of that."
Porzingis, who came to the Wizards in February of last season in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks for Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie, has played 65 games this campaign and is averaging 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 32.6 minutes per game.
Kuzma arrived in Washington in the five-team trade that sent Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of the 2021-22 season. In his second full season with the Wizards, the 27-year-old has played 64 games and averaged 21.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 35 minutes.
However, despite having the best scoring year of his young career, the advanced numbers are very down on Kuzma: He has just 1.0 win shares on the year (half as many as last season) on 28 usage percentage (up from last season) with just a 0.2 value over replacement player (down 80 percent from last season) and a 14.4 player efficiency rating (down 0.8 from a year ago, and dipping below the league average of 15.)
The advanced numbers are kinder to the 27-year-old Porzingis: 7.8 win shares (21st best in the NBA) on a 27.6 usage percentage with a 3.4 VORP (18th best) and a 23.2 PER (17th best).
Still, Sheppard in February argued there is enough potential to keep this Wizards core together.
"I would tell you this, the patience factor certainly, and it starts with you have to find out how good they really truly are, and I don't think there has been enough time with those guys together to say they're just not gonna work," the Sheppard said when asked if he believed this could be a title-contending core.
"Before you can win a title you have to build, build, build. You don't just overnight say, 'This team is good enough, let's go.' No, it takes time."
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