{"id":712340,"date":"2026-04-17T10:09:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T10:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/712340\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T10:09:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T10:09:26","slug":"wizards-may-have-a-sneaky-free-agent-target-on-their-radar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/712340\/","title":{"rendered":"Wizards may have a sneaky free agent target on their radar"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Wizards may be entering an offseason for the first time in a long time where they’re viewed as an attractive destination to free agents, and with that being the case, the first name on the team’s radar should be John Collins.<\/p>\n

Washington has several needs to address this offseason, especially after general manager Will Dawkins made it clear the team plans to compete in the East next season.<\/p>\n

With the abundance of moves over the course of the season, the Wizards have built a strong foundation focused on the superstar duo<\/a> of Trae Young and Anthony Davis, alongside the impressive young core filled with names like Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson, and Will Riley.<\/p>\n

Not to mention, the team has a golden opportunity to add another top prospect<\/a> in the 2026 NBA Draft this offseason.<\/p>\n

Still, with holes to be addressed, Washington could turn their attention to free agency, and Collins stands out as a player who makes sense.<\/p>\n

John Collins would be the versatile frontcourt addition the Wizards need<\/p>\n

Collins is set to enter unrestricted free agency this offseason after falling short of the postseason during his lone season with the LA Clippers.<\/p>\n

The Wake Forest product averaged 13.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists on 55.2% field goal shooting and 40.6% from beyond the arc through 69 games of play this season.<\/p>\n

Not only did the 6-foot-9 forward prove capable of quality starting minutes, but he also showcased he’s more than willing to come off the bench, a role that very well could make sense for him in Washington.<\/p>\n

The Wizards don’t need a star frontcourt player to come in, but they could certainly use a quality backup option that could not only play some minutes at the 4, but also at the 3 if needed to.<\/p>\n

Collins would be an ideal fit, and his experience would offer another vet for the young squad to lean on.<\/p>\n

Oh, and the obvious reunion with Collins’ former All-Star guard.<\/p>\n

Collins could reunite with Trae Young<\/p>\n

As many know, Collins began his career in Atlanta, where he was selected as the No. 19 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

The playmaker spent five seasons playing alongside Trae Young, which included multiple postseason appearances and a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.<\/p>\n

Chemistry wouldn’t be an issue, and if he’s willing to buy into the vision in D.C. on a solid contract, he could be the one under-the-radar addition that could come with major upside.<\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Wizards may be entering an offseason for the first time in a long time where they’re…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3780],"tags":[7,6,682,468,3892,683],"class_list":{"0":"post-712340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-wizards","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-washington","11":"tag-washington-wizards","12":"tag-washingtonwizards","13":"tag-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116419505782293066","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}