Grade the Trade: Washington Wizards trade Isaiah Thomas for Jerome Robinson
By Ethan Smith
The Isaiah Thomas experiment is officially over for the Washington Wizards.
There’s always one or two deals that sneak in right before the end of the deadline. This year, as we were closing in on the 3 pm cutoff, the Washington Wizards were one of the teams scrambling to complete a last-minute deal. Or, at least they came to the aide of the scrambling LA Clippers and New York Knicks and helped them complete a deadline-beating deal.
The Trade
Caron Butler was the first to link the team to Jerome Robinson, but it was ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (of course) who officially broke the news.
The Clippers, Knicks and Wizards have agreed to a three-team trade that will land Marcus Morris and Isaiah Thomas with the Clippers, league sources tell ESPN. Jerome Robinson will join the Wizards, Moe Harkless and a 2020 first-round pick to the Knicks.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2020
It was later reported by David Aldridge of The Athletic that the Wizards also sent the draft right for Issuf Sanon to the Knicks, a player the Wizards drafted in 2018 and have since been stashing overseas. The Wizards were once quite high on Sannon, but there’s a chance he will never see NBA minutes.
What the Washington Wizards Gained
In Jerome Robinson, the Wizards are getting some fairly untapped potential. Through his first season and a half of NBA action, Robinson has played in just 75 games for the LA Clippers. This season, his minutes per game were up but he was still barely averaging over ten minutes per contest. On a Clippers team that is competing for a championship this season, Robinson was a legitimate end of the bench guy. But he won’t be in D.C.
Of course, Bradley Beal owns the two-guard spot in Washington, there’s no doubt about that. But the Wizards are hoping they can mold the 22-year-old Robinson into a great guard behind Beal.
GM Tommy Sheppard:
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) February 7, 2020
“Jerome was a lottery pick for a reason, and we will look to mold his talent and toughness at both guard positions as we develop him within our program. He is in need of an opportunity to prove himself and we are in the position to provide him with that.” https://t.co/mXkezDdpgg
Although the Wizards didn’t get a chance to select Robinson in the 2018 draft (he was selected two spots before Troy Brown Jr), they were reportedly very high on the Boston College product.
Can also confirm ace reporter @realtuffjuice scoop that Wizards are working to get Jerome Robinson from Clippers before deadline. They liked him immensely before L.A. took him in first round of the 2018 draft.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) February 6, 2020
And they had good reason to be. In college, Robinson was an impressive three-year starter at Boston College. In his final season, he averaged 20 points per game, earning him a spot on the 2017-18 All-ACC team.
Washington Wizards: 5 things to know about newly acquired Jerome Robinson. light. Related Story
At Boston College, Robinson did a good chunk of his damage on offense from behind the three-point line. During his final collegiate season, Robinson shot over 40 percent from three. He hasn’t quite found the range since entering the NBA, and is shooting below 30 percent from outside this season, but he hasn’t gotten a ton of opportunities, either. The Wizards are hoping that by giving him some legit run at the NBA level, they can mold him into whatever they need.
What the Washington Wizards Lost
By shipping Isaiah Thomas out to Los Angeles, the Washington Wizards didn’t really lose much, to be honest. Their defense might have gotten better simply by losing Thomas. Addition by subtraction.
GM Tommy Sheppard had high praise for Thomas and his professionalism throughout this crazy season. But while Thomas may have been a great veteran presence for the young Wizards (of which there are many), he wasn’t making a huge impact on the court. And he hadn’t been seeing the court too much, either. Although Thomas averaged over 23 minutes per game with the Wizards, you’d have to go back to December 21 to find a game in which Isiah Thomas got a single minute in the fourth quarter.
On the court, it is apparent that Thomas has lost more than a step since his final season with the Boston Celtics. He can’t get by defenders anymore and he can’t draw fouls like he used to. He can still get hot with his jumper, but it’s not easy for him to get open looks these days. According to stats from Cleaning the Glass, the Wizards have been better both offensively and defensively when Thomas has been off the floor.
Unfortunately, Thomas’s time in LA won’t last long. The team plans to release him soon, per David Aldridge
Final Grade: B+
With Thomas on a one-year deal, his time in Washington was likely up at the end of the season, anyways. Sheppard was smart to get a young guard with some upside for an aging veteran on the downturn. His departure should open the door for Ish Smith, Gary Payton II, and newly-acquired Shabazz Napier to make some noise in the final stretch of the season.
Next. Grade the Trade: Washington Wizards trade Jordan McRae for Shabazz Napier. dark
Robinson fits the future of this team much better than Thomas does, and with Jordan McRae now gone and Garrison Mathews working his way back from an ankle injury, the Wizards need someone behind Bradley Beal.
The trade won’t move the needle in the NBA, but Robinson is just the latest young, high-upside player that Sheppard has taken a flyer on for next to nothing. It’s been a strategy that’s worked well with Moritz Wagner and Isaac Bonga this season. Let’s hope we can say the same about Robinson in a few months’ time.