The Washington Wizards were a bit of a disappointment last season in the playoffs after sweeping the Toronto Raptors and then losing to an Atlanta Hawks team that was dealing with a lot of injuries. A lot of the blame was placed on Nene Hilario as he didn't perform very well in the playoffs and allowed a buzzer beating put back dunk by Al Horford to lose game five. Nene was reportedly put on the trading block by the Wizards this offseason and didn't get much interest meaning he should be back for next season according to CSN Washington.
Despite his disappointing performance in the playoffs Nene is still a key player going forward for the Wizards. Nene is entering the final year of his contract with Washington and is due $13 million next season at the age of 33 years old. Nene started 58 out of the 67 games he played in during last regular season and started all ten playoff games.
Nene's shooting percentage in the playoffs was 45 percent which is much lower than his percentage during the regular season of 51 percent. His regular season shooting percentage with the Wizards last season was his highest in his three plus years with the team. Nene wasn't a huge part of the offense last season as he was the fourth option behind John Wall, Bradley Ball and Marcin Gortat but he still averaged 11 points in 25.3 minutes per game.
While the reports are saying that Nene didn't garner any interest on the trading block it is possible the Wizards could look to trade him again before the trade deadline, but odds are he will spend the full season in Washington. Nene has struggled a bit with injuries during his time with the Wizards and has also struggled guarding stretch fours. Nene has been playing power forward for the Wizards with Gortat at center but with the league moving towards smaller lineups it has caused mismatches for the 6 foot-11 big man.
Nene is still a solid player who is a very good fourth option for the Wizards. Despite his lack of production in the playoffs Nene will be a huge factor for the Wizards heading into next year as they reportedly plan to give him more minutes at center. Nene likely doesn't deserve the blame for the Wizards loss in the playoffs and he deserves some credit for how well he's done for the Wizards since he's been there.
