Wizards plan to sign Drew Gooden for rest of the season, according to report

If you thought Kevin Seraphin's return from injury would put Drew Gooden's roster spot in jeopardy, rest assured, he'll be sticking around for a while. According to Michael Lee of the Washington Post and J.Michael of CSN Washington, the Wizards plan on keeping Gooden after his second 10-day contract:

The Wizards (33-30) gave Gooden a nameplate last week, which hinted that he might not just be a short-term fix and could last well beyond the expiration of his second 10-day contract on March 18. According to a league source with knowledge of the situation, the Wizards intend to retain Gooden for the rest of the season.

Before Drew Gooden played a game, it seemed like a safe bet he would be around for the rest of the season. Nene's recovery is expected to take 4-6 weeks and NBA teams can only offer two 10-day contracts to players before they have to make a decision on whether or not to keep that player for the remainder of the season. The only way Gooden wouldn't have made it to April was if it was clear he wasn't in NBA shape after his nearly year-long layoff.

Thankfully, for Wizards fans he's more than held his own through five games, averaging eight points per game off the bench and shooting 59.4 percent from the field through five games. While it might not be realistic to expect Gooden to keep up his blistering shooting percentages from outside the rest of the season, it might just be enough to give Andre Miller and the rest of the second unit enough room to operate.

While there still might be some mixed feelings on keeping Drew Gooden for the rest of the season, at least we know Aaron Rodgers will be happy.