Washington Wizards: Is Ian Mahinmi on the move?

The Washington Wizards all of a sudden have a fairly crowded frontcourt. With the trade deadline approaching, could Ian Mahinmi be on the move?

The Washington Wizards have been an extremely injured team this season. It’s been brutal. But there has been one silver-lining; a 6’11”, 262-pound silver lining to be exact.

All these injuries haven’t been ideal, but they’ve given Ian Mahinmi a chance to show that he, at the very least, can still give a team some solid minutes as a post presence. With C.J. Miles now gone and the Wizards’ front office shutting down trade requests for Davis Bertans, Ian Mahinmi may be one of the few legitimate trade assets for the Wizards.

Why? For one, the Wizards have a fairly crowded frontcourt right now. Although it was once ravished with injury and desperate for Mahinmi’s services, it’s getting healthier.

Thomas Bryant finally made his return to the court for the Washington Wizards in their recent loss to the Utah Jazz. Since his return, Bryant has reminded Wizards fans of what they were missing with the 22-year-old center on the sideline. Bryant brought some of his trademarked passion in Washington’s loss to Utah, going straight at All-NBA defensive stalwart Rudy Gobert, and getting the best of him on more than one occasion.

Recently re-signed, Bryant has secured his spot as Washington’s big man of the future. When Moritz Wagner and Rui Hachimura return to the court, minutes will be scarce for Mahinmi. So if he’s likely to see more of the bench than the court once the Wizards gets healthy, why not try and move him while he’s producing. With the February 6 trade deadline fast approaching, Mahinmi is in the midst of his best statistical season since his 2014-15 campaign with the Indiana Pacers. The timing couldn’t be better!

The return in a Mahinmi trade would almost certainly be small. Teams, even desperate teams, aren’t giving up first-rounders or promising prospects for a few months with an expensive 33-year-old backup center. Maybe the Wizards can get a second-rounder or a young guy on the margins who hasn’t hit yet. Not much, but a small move is better than nothing. If the Wizards have proven anything this season (besides the fact that they are an illogical and completely bonkers team to watch), it’s that they value the small moves.

Gary Payton II has become a legit rotation player after getting a call-up from the G-League. Garrison Mathews was coming into his own before he went down with an ankle injury. Isaac Bonga has taken huge strides throughout the season and has started 23 games. He’s making $1.4 million this season. Even currently-injured Moritz Wagner is a prime example of the Wizards seeing huge dividends from moves that cost them little to nothing. And don’t forget about Anzejs Pasecniks, who they found in the G-League and liked so much they converted his two-way contract into a multi-year deal.

While Pasecniks may have been called up out of necessity, he’s done great with the new opportunity, regardless of why he’s getting it. While he won’t be making any All-Rookie teams, he is currently third among all rookies in rebounds per game. In his 15 appearances, Pasecniks is averaging 5.5 boards per contest in just 20 minutes per game, per Basketball-Reference. No other rookie averaging 20 minutes or less is grabbing more rebounds per game. If nothing else, he’s proven to be a really good tall person.

Why convert Pasecnik’s deal and  bring back recently waived Johnathan Williams on a two-way deal in an already crowded frontcourt? Well, maybe it’s about to get less crowded.

Now, this is just speculation, but if the Wizards are to make a move at the deadline, Mahinmi looks like one of their more disposable and moveable pieces. If the Wizards are truly about development as they said when the season began, converting Pasecniks only for him to sit behind Mahinmi doesn’t make much sense. And having a healthy and productive Mahinmi sitting at the end of the bench while being paid millions doesn’t make much sense, either. One of them is part of the team’s future. One is on an expiring deal. Why not try and get some value for the expiring one?

If the Wizards were to move Mahinmi, there’s no guarantee that what they get back will be any good. But casting a wide net increases their chances of catching the big fish. The Wizards are in the midst of a rebuild, even if it’s an abbreviated one. Staying pat at the deadline and not getting anything of value for Mahinmi’s albatross contract could prove to be costly.

But then again, they’ll be rid of that contract by season’s end one way or another. Even if they don’t find a partner before the deadline, Mahinmi could be a prime buyout candidate if the Wizards want to open the door for some development.