Revisiting the Terrible Kelly Oubre for Trevor Ariza Trade

The Washington Wizards traded Kelly Oubre for basically nothing. It is shameful that the Wizards gave up young talent for an old veteran.

Ernie Grunfeld was the General Manager for the Washington Wizards for 16 years. During his reign, Grunfeld made numerous terrible or questionable decisions. If I wanted to list them all, this article would take hours to read from beginning to end. Instead, I’ll just focus on one of his final moves.

The last straw for Wizards fans came when Grunfeld traded Kelly Oubre to the Phoenix Suns in December of last season.

At the time of the trade, the Wizards were a lackluster team who played without heart, passion, or team chemistry. They were in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-2016 season. There were questions of what direction the Wizards should go in. Should they tank by trading John Wall and Bradley Beal? Stand pat and hope the team turns it around? Or should they trade for someone who would help them get into the playoffs?

Grunfeld knew his job was in danger, especially if the team missed the playoffs as this team did have a lot of talent. So he chose the third option.

In doing so, Grunfeld made one of the worst and most questionable trades during his time with the Wizards, and that is saying a lot. The Wizards traded Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers to the Phoenix Suns for Trevor Ariza.

Ariza was a 14-year NBA veteran, small forward, known for his defensive skills and three-point shooting. Ariza played in 26 games in Phoenix before getting traded, averaging 9.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. He shot 36 percent from three.

This wasn’t Ariza’s first stint in Washington. Ariza had played with the Wizards from 2012-2014, so he was familiar with Wall and Beal. The hope was that bringing in a reliable veteran who could help lead this team would be the spark the Wizards needed to get to the playoffs.

Here is the problem. Kelly Oubre was only 23 years old when he was traded. Ariza was 33. Grunfeld gave up young talent for a veteran who was on the latter side of his career in the NBA. Before he was traded, Oubre mostly came off the bench for the Wizards, averaging 12.9 points and 0.9 steals per game while shooting just over 31 percent from three.

Not only that, but Oubre is a very similar player to Ariza on the court, and is arguably better. He is also known for his sound defense and ability to shoot threes. When he was drafted, the ESPN analysts even made his NBA player comparison Trevor Ariza. So the Wizards basically traded for an older version of the player they traded away.

Wait I’m not finished, it gets worse. A few days before the Ariza-Oubre swap, there was a different “agreed” upon trade. The trade would have sent the Wizards Ariza and two second-round picks from the Memphis Grizzlies. Oubre would have been sent to the Grizzlies, and Austin Rivers, Wayne Selden, and Brooks would have been sent to the Suns. Notice how Brooks does not have a first name?

Well the Grizzlies and Suns were apparently confused on which Brooks Memphis was sending to Phoenix. Memphis thought they were sending Phoenix MarShon Brooks while Phoenix thought they were receiving Dillon Brooks. The miscommunication of the trade caused it to fall apart. Adrian Wojnarowski reported that “the Grizzlies insist that they negotiated the deal through Washington general manager Ernie Grunfeld.” Grunfeld’s failure to effectively communicate and complete this trade caused the Wizards to miss out on two second-round picks, not huge assets, but better than nothing.

After the trade, the Wizards’ play really did not improve. They were still on the outside looking in at the playoffs. Their plan of bringing a veteran into the locker room to turn the team around was looking like a failure. Then, John Wall tore his Achilles and all hope of making the playoffs was lost.

The Wizards could have traded Ariza away at the trade deadline for some assets but decided to keep him for the remainder of the season. In free agency, Ariza left Washington to sign a two year, $25 million deal with the Sacramento Kings. The Wizards ended up with nothing from the Oubre trade.

One of the reasons the Wizards wanted to trade Oubre was because he was set to become a restricted free agent this summer and they were scared they could not afford him. Oubre ended up resigning with the Suns to a two year, $30 million deal. This would have probably been hard for the Wizards to afford had the trade not happened. However, Ariza was also hit the market this summer and the Wizards were not able to afford him either.

It is shameful that the Wizards got literally nothing by trading Kelly Oubre. Let’s just be grateful that Ernie Grunfeld is no longer the General Manager of the Washington Wizards.