NBA Rumors: Wizards Expected to Be 'Aggressive' in Free Agency With Michael Winger

After hiring Michael Winger to lead their front office, the Washington Wizards might not wait long to make big changes to their roster.

"Pretty much every rival team I've spoken to is already expecting aggressive activity from the Winger-led Wizards," NBA insider Marc Stein reported Sunday.

Stein acknowledged it's still unclear what direction Washington is going this offseason because aggressive is a relative term.

The Wizards could aggressively pursue short-term upgrades to strengthen the supporting cast around Bradley Beal. They could be equally dogged in blowing it up and rebuilding around Beal or going so far as trading the three-time All-Star.

Either scenario is possible considering Kristaps Porziņģis and Kyle Kuzma are eligible for free agency.

Re-signing both would lock in the Wizards' current core for a while, and you'd assume there would be further reinforcements to come. If Winger wants to make the team meaningfully better, then running it back isn't enough for a squad that went 35-47.

Letting Porziņģis and Kuzma walk, on the other hand, would help to clear the decks for the future. Without those two, Beal and Daniel Gafford would be the only two veterans signed to a guaranteed non-rookie scale contract for 2024-25. Spotrac projects the franchise to have $67.4 million in salary cap space by then.

Part of the reason the Wizards find themselves in their current predicament is team governor Ted Leonsis' aversion to tanking. According to The Athletic's David Aldridge, ownership is willing to embrace that strategy now:

"If Winger doesn't formally replace Tommy Sheppard in job title, he will at least have the green light to do whatever's necessary, including—be still, my beating heart—a total rebuild, meaning building through the draft and not through incremental, piecemeal trades. Don't say 'tank' around Leonsis; it makes him break out into hives. But if 'rebuild' is more palatable in the genteel world of Universe Mastering, so be it. Winger can do whatever he wants with the existing roster, and no NBA executive worth his iPhone thinks this roster is good enough to compete at a high level."

Aldridge added that Winger will get "carte blanche to remake the whole operation from top to bottom."

Whatever transpires, it looks like there will be full organizational alignment behind Winger's vision.