Last year, veteran Maurice Evans was a key part of the Wizards effort to reshape their locker room. While less professional influences were moved out and away from John Wall, Evans was there to provide guidance in the vacuum.
The Wizards liked what he did, so they offered him a front office job, reports the USA Today.
A person familiar with the Wizards who requested anonymity because Evans is unsigned, said the team wanted to bring Evans back — as a front-office executive, a role Evans wants to embrace in the future. Just not now.
“I see myself in that kind of role,” he said. “I just don’t see it quite yet. I still have value as a player and look forward to playing this season.”
Evans also is a VP of the players union and has standing that way with players. There certainly are a lot of teams that could use veteran leadership in the locker room next season — Sacramento, Toronto, Charlotte come quickly to mind and there are others. But for the GMs of those teams they need to look and see if they can find a young player who might develop first, because in the end it is talent that wins in this league.
Evans finds himself among a group of veterans who have something to contribute but have to convince a team of that still, that need to land a contract. In his case, that offer likely comes in the next couple weeks as some GM realizes what he needs is not another prospect but someone to guide the ones he has.
