Washington Wizards Mailbag Monday: Should the Wizards Trade For DeMarcus Cousins?

Washington Wizards have put themselves in a hole to start the season and might need to consider reuniting John Wall with DeMarcus Cousins.

We’re roughly a week away from Thanksgiving and the Washington Wizards haven’t given us much to be thankful for.

Washington is the worst team in the Eastern Conference. The Philadelphia 76ers aren’t an NBA team, so we won’t count them.

Things have to turn around quickly. The season has just begun, but with a 2-7 record, the team has to dig themselves out of a hole if they’d like to realistically compete for a playoff spot.

As always, we’ll begin the week by answering some of your questions.

Thanks for participating.

I’m going to name my first son (or daughter) “Boogie,” so my perspective might be a tad biased.

But really, if the Washington Wizards don’t start winning games and the Sacramento Kings continue to Sacramento King, Ernie Grunfeld will have to at least consider making some major shakeups to the roster.

John Wall – as any human being would – will get fed up. It’s only a matter of time. He’s in his seventh season, has never played with another All-Star and has only made the postseason twice.

The constant losing and lack of improvement would frustrate anyone.

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What better way to alleviate his frustration and give the team some hope than to acquire Boogie – the best teammate Wall’s ever played with?

The duo are friends off the court and have legitimate chemistry on the hardwood too.

It’s a perfect match.

If it takes Bradley Beal, Otto Porter, Kelly Oubre and one of the veteran big men, then so be it.

Beal has failed to live up to expectations and likely will never reach the level of success Boogie has already obtained.

Porter has shown flashes of brilliance, but again, won’t have the impact Boogie has.

You have to lose something to get something. What the Wizards currently have isn’t working.

So why not blow things up and acquire a franchise center?

(Side note: if you want more on a potential Boogie to D.C. deal, you can check out this piece I wrote quite some time ago)

is Kelly Oubre ever going to be ready to contribute consistently?
— Brandon Nguyen (@bnguyen_45) November 14, 2016

Oubre hasn’t been that bad this season. He’s made roughly 44 percent of his shots and 39 percent of his threes. It’s easy to forget that he’s just 20-years-old.

Given that he essentially sat on the bench the entire season last year, he’s going to go through more growing pains than other sophomores.

He was anxiously waiting for a chance to play, and now that he’s occasionally playing, he gets into a “I’ll prove them wrong” mode and ends up making brutal turnovers.

With that said, the upside is clearly there. Besides Wall, Oubre is the most explosive athlete on the Washington Wizards’ roster. He’s shown improvement in his offensive game – at least in a shooting sense.

It will take some time, but eventually, he’ll contribute. Once he gets the kinks out, Oubre will be a regular part of Washington’s rotation. It took Porter years before he permanently cracked the rotation.

I think there’s a solid chance we’ll see Daniel Ochefu take playing time away from Jason Smith, who’s been one of the worst players in the league so far.

If Ochefu doesn’t get playing time soon, it will be because he’s not doing enough in practice. As you said, Scott Brooks is willing to make the change. He swapped Trey Burke for Tomas Satoransky and recently benched Marcus Thornton for Sheldon McClellan.

It’s on Ochefu to get the minutes and I think he will.

Ted Leonsis is waiting for the Wizards’ new practice facility to get built before buying a D-League team. With the Wizards, Capitals, Mystics and Hoyas all sharing the Verizon Center, I’m not sure there’s room for another team.

Next: Wizards Should Reunite Wall With Cousins

That’s been the plan from the get-go. Once the facility is built, the team will have a much-needed D-League affiliate.