2016 Trade Deadline
For the second year in a row, the Wizards were again active at the trade deadline in 2016. The deal that they ended up making has been a mixed bag and really depends on how you look at it. At the time, Washington traded for a very disgruntled yet talented power forward, Markieff Morris.
After a tumultuous season with the Phoenix Suns that included feuds with players, coaches, and front office personnel, Markieff Morris received a much needed fresh start in DC. At the time of the trade, the Wizards were 22-28 and attempting to make a run at a playoff spot.
Injuries to Bradley Beal and Nene gave cause for concern for Ernie Grunfeld, who, as always, was just trying to squeak into the playoffs. So DC sent Kris Humphries, Dejuan Blair, and a protected 1st to Phoenix for Keef. Humphries and Blair were quickly bought out. Phoenix was in it for the pick.
The reason that this trade is an interesting one is that, as stated before, there are a few different ways you can look at it. That 1st round pick ended up being the 13th overall selection in which the Suns ended up taking Georgios Papagiannis. Keef ended up coming over to Washington and averaged 12.5 points and six rebounds in 27 games as a starter. He would go on to play another two and half seasons with the Wizards, including a career year during the 2016-2017 season when he averaged 14 points and seven rebounds in 73 games that season.
So you can look at this trade through the positive lense of, the Wizards received Morris who was looked at as a stretch four that Washington desperately needed. A guy who could come in be physical, shoot the three and rebound. And he largely did just that.
Morris came in and played some of the best basketball of his career during the peak of the Wall/Beal era. He developed a reputation as an enforcer for the Wizards and as the leader of the ‘Death Row DC’ mantra. It also didn’t hurt that the lottery pick used for Keef resulted in one of the bigger draft busts in recent memory. Papagiannis only played in the NBA for two seasons and was out of the NBA before Morris was out of DC.
From the negative lense, the Wizards at the time were not as close as they thought they were to playoff contention. And considering the turmoil in Phoenix, they maybe could have gotten Morris for less. After a year in which they did not make the playoffs, Washington could have used that pick to regroup and draft guys like Pascal Siakam, Caris LeVert, and Dejounte Murray. They were all still available when the Suns selected Papagiannis.
All in all, this move helped the Wizards in the short term as Keef helped lead the Wizards back to relevance for a few seasons. But that pick also would have been useful. Personally, I was a huge fan of Keef’s during the Deathrow DC era. However, his play began to grow stale and inconsistent during the end.
This trade was not the worst move on this list and had its benefits, but it wasn’t necessarily the best trade either.