The Wizards signed two players from the Orlando Magic last season, to wildly different reactions from fans last month. Many applauded Washington locking up Andrew Nicholson to a four-year, $26 million deal that will carry him through his prime NBA years. Most of those same people were not thrilled by the team’s decision to give Smith a three-year, $16 million deal to essentially be the team’s third-string center, behind Marcin Gortat and Ian Mahinmi.
It’s been over a month since those deals went through and nothing has happened to change the tide of opinion. If anything, the Smith signing just looks worse because the Wizards have a glut at center and very little depth at small forward.