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Washington Wizards NBA Trade Deadline 2017: How Tyreke Evans Could Help Washington

By Ward Watkins

Feb 4, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans (1) dribbles the ball as Washington Wizards guard Trey Burke (33) defends in the second quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 105-91. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 4, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans (1) dribbles the ball as Washington Wizards guard Trey Burke (33) defends in the second quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 105-91. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Washington Wizards need to address their second unit and Tyreke Evans, who was recently traded to the Kings, could help them immediately.

As the third seed in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Wizards have an outside shot at shocking the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Playoffs. But with a roster as currently constructed, their chances of beating the Cavaliers aren’t high.

Acquiring bench help is necessary, but the Wizards should avoid targeting one-dimensional players. Lou Williams, for instance, is a shooter and scorer. That’s it.

There are other options and avenues to bolster the bench as well.

On Sunday night, the New Orleans Pelicans acquired DeMarcus Cousins from the Sacramento Kings for Buddy Hield and a future draft pick. In the aftermath of the trade, multiple intriguing players became available.

It surfaced that Terrence Jones is now almost certainly going to be traded and Tyreke Evans is a candidate to be bought out by Sacramento in his second tour of duty there. Evans was included in the trade to make it work financially.

So, why these two?

Well, as stated above, the Wizards’ bench could use some work. Rotations certainly tighten up in the playoffs, but you still need a solid eight players come May, and with respect to the great Jason Smith (inside joke, those who know, know), the second unit isn’t quite there.

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I won’t say much about Terrence Jones (Ward wrote about Jones in the past), as he may be a luxury with Markieff Morris playing well with the second unit.

But the accumulation of talent and an almost free player who averages 17 and 9 per-36 could not hurt the chances of a team aspiring to be a contender this year.

Instead, the focus should be on Evans.

Evans can be an extremely effective option off the bench for the Washington Wizards, as a third guard or otherwise.

The fourth pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, he has been slowly brought back this season after a round of surgeries on his troublesome right knee.

He has appeared in only 26 games and only playing over 30 minutes once or twice (if at all). He has been effective when on the floor though, averaging 18.8 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals per-36.

Evans is definitely a ball dominant player, and despite playing most of his minutes at the three this season, still boasts a 32% usage rate with Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday off the floor.

He is not a great shooter by any means, but he gets to the rim (57% of his shots this season have come within ten feet of the rim) and can distribute.

Evans’ assist percentage is 31.5% on the season, which is 14th in the league of all players who have played in more than 10 games, and is higher than well-known names such as Stephen Curry, Reggie Jackson, Goran Dragic, and Kyrie Irving. He’s also a really good rebounder, with nba.com citing his defensive rebounding percentage at an impressive 19.2%.

Bringing in Evans does not come without risk.

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We still aren’t certain that his knee issues are resolved, and there are versatility concerns with that usage and playing him on the floor with Wall and Beal.

As mentioned above, he’s not going to be mistaken as a shooter. His defensive rating for the season has literally been the median.

Nonetheless, the Wizards need an assertive leader off the bench and depth, and Evans certainly has the ability to check both boxes.

At 6’6 and 220 pounds, he can play several positions. Per Basketball Reference, he has played no minutes at point guard this year, but his usage and other stats suggest that he is the primary ballhandler when on the floor.

If Evans is bought out, Washington’s front office should do what it can to get a player with this sort of potential this late in the season.

Financially, it can get interesting.

In the short-term, the financial implications are minimal. This works if Evans is bought out, making him a free agent, and Jones is already playing out the season under a “prove it” minimum salary deal.

Either way, both are slated to be unrestricted free agents this offseason. Both Evans and Jones could certainly be NBA starters, but both would be fantastic dominating usage in the second unit as valuable role players there.

The logistics of bringing both back long-term is tricky – and possibly infeasible – likely requires dumping Ian Mahinmi and Andrew Nicholson (boo-hoo), flirting with the luxury tax, and several other almost lucky factors. This move would be for right now.

Next: How the Wizards Could Acquire Paul George

A top seven of Wall, Beal, Gortat, Otto, Morris, Evans and Jones is more than legit championship depth. This doesn’t have much foresight, but if the team could finish the season with those seven, along with Oubre, Smith, Mahinmi, or whoever else is on the team come Thursday’s trade deadline, fans will have a serious case of Bullets fever.

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