Grading all 3 Wizards Trade Deadline Deals
Wizards Trade Deadline Grades: Montrezl Harrell Sent to the Charlotte Hornets
Wizards Grade: B
Big man and proven commodity Montrezl Harrell was among the Wizards players that were most likely to be dealt at the deadline. Seeing it come to fruition was no surprise at all.
Getting sent to Charlotte was also no surprise, as it was a great fit and a very predictable landing spot for the veteran. He can thrive in Charlotte and will help their young team on the court just by how he plays and what his strengths are.
The Wizards were always going to move him, which likely limited what other teams were willing to offer. Some sort of draft capital (Second Rounder?) would have been a nice addition in any deal.
The fact that something along those lines was not included doesn’t hurt the Wizards grade too much, though, as Harrell was going to be gone this upcoming offseason anyway. Getting something for him before it’s too late makes this a win by default.
Ish Smith is a solid addition right now. After the Holiday deal and the soon-to-be-discussed Spencer Dinwiddie trade, the Wizards had a massive hole to fill at the guard spot. Smith is familiar with the franchise and will be helpful in getting young players opportunities when he’s on the court.
He also has a reasonable price tag for next season at $4.75 million. Even better, it’s not guaranteed, so the Wizards can do what they want in regards to keeping him for that salary.
Vernon Carey Jr. is essentially the flier that replaces a future second-round pick in this trade. He was an early round two pick in the 2020 NBA Draft (32nd overall).
Carey is worth the flier at his reasonable price tag for the next two years and with the talent he possesses. Seeing if he can make anything of that talent makes a lot of sense for the Wizards right now.
At Duke, Carey Jr. averaged 17.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. There’s a clear path towards him becoming a good backup in the NBA with an outside chance he becomes even more than that.