When the Washington Wizards made the deadline deal that sent Jordan McRae to Denver for Shabazz Napier, I think most people in the Wizards fandom, including myself, believed he would just be a stopgap. Isaiah Thomas was clearly not working out and with John Wall still out, the Wizards needed a backup for Ish Smith.
Smith has been playing some of the best basketball of his career this season. So it was assumed that Napier would come in to give Smith a breather and eat up minutes for the remainder of the year and then most likely walk.