Wizards Possible Point Guard Solutions
John Wall is out for several more weeks with a knee injury. Tomas Satoransky recently suffered a head injury, and Tim Frazier is working through a nose injury. That leaves the Wizards running Bradley Beal at the point, and possibly looking to sign a free agent.
Top names in the free agent PG discussion include Derrick Rose, Ty Lawson, and Ramon Sessions. Each of these options come with a few upsides and a few downsides.
Derrick Rose: Rose hardly seems like the solution to a team dealing with injury. It seems Rose can hardly get through a few weeks uninjured. However, Rose would bring a veteran presence and experience to the system, and could help Satoransky continue to learn and improve as Wall’s backup for the coming years. Having the insight and basketball mind of a former MVP could be valuable in a way that statistics can’t measure.
Ty Lawson: At 30 years old, Lawson is leading the Chinese Basketball Association in scoring at 25.8 points per game on 57% field goals and 41% from three. When in the NBA, Lawson had four seasons scoring at over 15 ppg and 6 apg, including 17.6 ppg in 2013-14 and 9.6 apg in 2014-15. Like Rose, Lawson could bring a veteran experience after several years as a starter in the league. However, off court issues are a problem with Lawson, who has four DUIs on his record.
Ramon Sessions: Sessions would likely be the worst, and therefore cheapest, option of these three. He has plenty of NBA experience, but struggled this season, eventually being waived by the Knicks in order to make room for Trey Burke.
The Wizards do have two free roster spots, so they would not need to waive anyone to make room for a new point guard. Clearly, none of these washed-up veterans are a long-term solution, but instead would serve as a starter while all three PGs are injured, and a backup as each returns.
The best option is Rose. Sessions is just plain bad this year, so the Wizards would be better off with Beal at point. He’s not worth the money. The Wizards have enough off court issues without adding Ty Lawson’s criminal record to the mix. Rose, however, could pass on his experience to Wall and Satoransky, even with the knees of a 70 year old.
