Report: Gortat Agrees To Five-Year, $60 Million Deal With Wizards

The Washington Wizards won a playoff series last season for the first time since 2005. October trade acquisition Marcin Gortat was key to the team’s rare success, and has been rewarded thusly and then some for his efforts. According to Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowksi, Gortat has agreed to a five-year, $60 million extension to remain in Washington for the long-haul.

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Wow.

Gortat is a good player. He’s the rare center that offers positive two-way impact while playing multiple roles, and is coming off the best season of his career. Still, he’s is 30 years-old and not the type of player that will age with grace. Paying merely solid big men eight-figure salaries well into their 30s is usually a losing proposition for teams, especially when the player’s strongest attribute is athleticism. Gortat isn’t Serge Ibaka or Anthony Davis, but the mobility that help makes him so effective will surely wane with age.

Success is a double-edged sword. The Wizards needed to retain Gortat to build on last season’s growth, and assessed his market to be lively enough they not only deemed it necessary to give him $12 million annually, but do so over the five-year period no others teams could. Their apparent projection of the league’s interest in Gortat seems unrealistic; it’s unclear what team would have offered him that salary even in a four-year deal. If Washington got wind that it was a possibility and decided they’d bring back Gortat at any price less than outrageous, though, this was the right play. It’s the justification of that strategy that appears misguided.

Next up for the Wizards? A similar situation with Trevor Ariza. Let’s see how they handle it this time.

Is Gortat worth his five-year, $60 million deal?

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