Assuming the Jazz don't match the Wizards' contract offer, Dee Brown becomes the 14th person on the Wizards' roster with at least a partially guaranteed contract.
Why is that significant? Remember this:
I don't see the Wizards carrying more than 14 players into the regular season.
Hmm...this is interesting. There are several possibilities here.
Ernie has changed his tune, or Ivan is wrong about his hunch: Perhaps, but it's not always the best strategy to carry 15 players. That's the most any team is allowed to have at one time, and it limits one's options if they want to make a roster upgrade during the season. Having 14 guys gives you flexibility, in case there's something that comes up during the season. Like, if someone gets bought out, the Wizards won't need to cut anyone to get him.
Brown's spot on the roster isn't guaranteed: It's possible the Wizards are only doing this so Brown can play in the Summer League, where they'll evaluate him for the roster in training camp. Even though Brown played in Turkey last year, the Jazz still technically own his rights, so it's possible this was the only way he could play for the Wizards in the Summer League.
But this doesn't make much sense to me. If Brown was a free agent, why is he restricted? And why offer him a two-year deal if the point was to audition him for Summer League? There has to be something I'm missing if this is a legitimate possibility.
Someone's getting traded: This is a possibility we've discussed before, but it makes even more sense now. Considering how close we are to the luxury tax, this would be a trade that either yields nothing in return or it yields one player for two. My guess is the guy traded would be one of our young bigs, preferably Pecherov. That way, we not only eliminate a position of surplus, but we also create more room under the luxury tax to go after a small forward.
Finally, there's the most distressing possibility, at least as far as this season goes. That is...
We're done making moves: We have a 14-man roster, and we don't have much room under the luxury tax, so I could see Ernie saying that we didn't need to sign anybody else this offseason. That would be pretty upsetting, because we desperately need another small forward to play behind Caron Butler. If Ernie decides he'd rather have Dee Brown than someone like Matt Barnes, I can understand Wizards fans' frustrations.
Hopefully, it's one of the top three scenarios. I like Dee Brown for this price, because he's a pest defensively and can handle the ball, but I don't like Dee Brown as our only addition this offseason.