Washington Wizards Help Los Angeles Lakers, Trade for Mo Wagner and More
By Ethan Smith
The Washington Wizards join the Anthony Davis trade and take a few young players plus a future draft pick from the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers have long been rumored as possible trade partners this summer. Except most of those rumors centered around Bradley Beal. When the two teams finally did end up trading, Beal wasn’t the centerpiece. Instead, Mo Wagner was.
Or I guess it could be Anthony Davis depending on how you look at it, but he isn’t going to or coming from the Wizards, so he doesn’t count. As part of the trade sending Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Lakers for a treasure trove of assets, the Wizards will also receive Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga, and Jemerrio Jones, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi.
The Lakers are trading Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga and Jemerrio Jones to Wizards as part of the Anthony Davis deal with New Orleans, league sources tell @ZachLowe_NBA and me. Deal clears contracts and creates more cap space for free agency.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 27, 2019
The Washington Wizards will also receive a 2022 second-round pick, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources: Lakers are sending their 2022 second-round pick to Washington in trade to move Moe Wagner, Jemerrio Jones and Isaac Bonga to the Wizards.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 27, 2019
This is the second time in a week that interim general manager has made a move to recoup some of the second-round pics that his predecessor, Ernie Grunfeld, gave away. On draft night, the Wizards acquired a second-round pick from the Philadelphia 76ers for cash considerations and selected Admiral Schofield. Like the trade on draft night, the Wizards sent the Lakers cash considerations for Wagner, Bonga, and Jones.
This pair of moves is quickly setting Sheppard apart from the old regime and silencing the concerns many had about sticking with someone in-house.
With Sheppard at the helm, this is a new front office going in a new direction. There’s a distinct plan to acquire cheap, young prospects. Rui Hachimura, Admiral Schofield, Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga, Troy Brown Jr, and restricted free agent Thomas Bryant are all 22 years old or younger.
Next. Washington Wizards Free Agency Rumor Mill. dark
It’s unclear whether the Wizards have plans to keep all three of these newly acquired former-Lakers, but it’s likely Wagner will stick around, at least. He’s only owed $2.1 million next season with team options for the next two seasons after that($2.2M, $3.9M). Plus, the Wizards were high on him during last year’s draft but couldn’t quite get to him. One year later, they’ve got him, and they didn’t have to give up much.