Washington Wizards top executive Tommy Sheppard has maintained his stance that the team’s focal priority moving to the offseason is to retain both Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis.
While Kuzma has already noted that he is fully considerate of an extended partnership in D.C., Porzingis also got an interesting stance about how he plans to go talk with the club in the offseason.
Speaking in his 2022-23 exit interview this Monday, Porzingis made it known that he is interested to be back in the Wizards camp and run it back with the franchise. The Latvian star noted that he “feel at home” by staying in Washington, with people around the organization have shown initiative to compete.
“I feel at home here. Believe it or not, I love the city. I know a lot of people are saying it’s not a sexy destination for a lot of free agents, but I really like the city,” Porzingis said, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports.
“Just seeing how people are around the organization, especially people at the top, how proactive they are and I see how the willingness to get this to a better place, that in my eyes has a lot of value. That kind of gets me excited, so I’m looking forward to what’s coming and hopefully, we have some clarity soon.”
Porzingis, 27, still has a player option for the 2023-24 season that is worth $36MM in salary.
As such, all signs are pointing towards his intent to decline it and squeeze his value after a solid stint this season. He averaged a career-best 23.2 points in 49.8 percent shooting to go with 8.4 boards and 2.7 assists. Porzingis was also relatively healthy for Washington, appearing in 65 games in 32.6 minutes on average.
As the Wizards are planning to see more experimentation and exposure to ascend as a contending team, Porzingis has been their clear target to get signed on alongside Kuzma. With Bradley Beal locked with the franchise for the next five years, they do intend to not waste his prime and capitalize on their competing chances.
