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Washington Wizards NBA Trade Deadline 2017: Four Targets That Won’t Require A First Round Pick

By Ryan Eugene

Nov 28, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) blocks the shot by Sacramento Kings guard Darren Collison (7) during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) blocks the shot by Sacramento Kings guard Darren Collison (7) during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

Washington Wizards have been linked to a number of players before the NBA Trade Deadline, but here’s who they can get without giving up a first round pick.

We are officially less than 30 hours from the NBA Trade Deadline.

Rumors of trades large and small have been circulating online for the last week or so. Unlike most years, we have seen the league shifting trades in the days leading up to what is usually an underwhelming deadline.

As a team that sees itself making a push towards the Eastern Conference Finals, the Washington Wizards are looking to improve its 29th ranked bench.

So far, the Wizards have been linked to a variety of players, including Lou Williams, Will Barton, P.J. Tucker, Bojan Bogdanovic, Darren Collison and Shabazz Muhammad.

Lou Williams was dealt to Houston on Tuesday, removing one of the most coveted players openly available.  

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Every team has multiple plans heading into this week, and with the deadline looming at 3pm ET Thursday, Washington will have to move down its list of coveted players.

With its poor bench, Washington finds itself as needing to be one of the most aggressive buyers at the deadline.

Not wanting to disrupt the chemistry of its starting lineup (+ Kelly Oubre), Washington doesn’t have much in terms of players to offer.

Instead, the team will most likely have to pair a bench player with one or two second round picks.

Trey Burke, Tomas Satoransky and Jason Smith have most matchable salaries, and the most trade value of the remaining players.

The Wizards could and most likely have looked at 26 year old Barton.  However, because of his production the last two seasons (14.4 PPG and 13.9 PPG), his contract (2 years/$7 million), and the team’s standing (8th place), it’s hard to see Denver moving Barton for less than a first round pick plus a player.

After trading the team’s first round pick two of the last three years, I think Ernie Grunfeld holds onto this one. The team is most likely going to give Otto Porter a max contract this summer, so filling in the roster with cheap, but potentially contributing players will be key.  

If the Wizards finish around pick 21-25, based on the most recent draft class, a first round pick would be paid between $1-1.5 Million per season.  Those cheap contracts go a long way to build contenders.  Now they just need to work on hitting on these late first round draft selections…

So with that, let’s look at some lesser priced trade targets, who can still contribute to the team in the last 25 regular season games and into the playoffs.

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