NBA Trade Deadline: How Does Each Trade Deadline Deal Impact The Washington Wizards?
By Chris Kirby
Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Detroit Pistons Receive: Reggie Jackson
Oklahoma City Thunder Receive: Enes Kanter, Kyle Singler, Steve Novak and DJ Augustin
Utah Jazz Receive: Kendrick Perkins, rights to Tibor Pleiss
Breakdown: This was a trade for a couple of disgruntled players. Jackson and Kanter had both requested prior to the deadline.
Jackson couldn’t have landed in a better spot considering Brandon Jennings is out for the season with a torn Achilles. He will get a chance to prove himself as a starter before he hits free-agency.
The Thunder received a great package for a player that was going to walk this summer. Kanter replaces Perkins and that is a HUGE upgrade. Kanter has averaged 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds as a starter for the Jazz this year. Now he will become the first big off of the bench for Oklahoma. Singler, Novak and Augustin all make the Thunder deeper.
The Utah Jazz aren’t expected to hold onto Perkins.
What this means for the Washington Wizards: The Pistons (21-33) are two games out of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. They have a 16-10 record since they waived Josh Smith on December 22nd. Many analysts wrote them off when the Jennings injury occurred on January 23rd. The trade for Jackson gives them a legitimate shot of making that Playoff push. The Wizards play the Pistons two times in the upcoming nine days.
A Pistons-Wizards series would be an entertaining matchup. It would be interesting to see the battle in the paint pitting Detroit’s Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond against Nene and Marcin Gortat. The Pistons could be a team that Washington has to watch out for in the future.
Stan Van Gundy is a solid coach and this team could be a mainstay in the Playoffs depending on what Van Gundy the General Manager does with Jackson, Jennings and Monroe.
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