The Washington Wizards have been one piece away from a championship for years. This year is no exception as they have three All-Star caliber players yet aren’t able to close out games or put together any kind of consistency on either end of the floor.
In a recent Bleacher Report article discussing trade targets for every team in the NBA, they provided a few ideas for who that one piece could be. We got a usual suspect in John Collins, a player who has been included in trade talks for Kyle Kuzma for a few weeks now. We also saw a candidate from last year’s MVP race, DeMar DeRozan. He was in the running until injuries tore apart the Chicago Bulls’ ability to win games.
The Bulls, once again plagued by injuries and a lack of defense, have been right with the Wizards this season. Both teams have struggled to put together wins on a consistent basis. They also continuously lose games that they should have won.
With this kind of return from a veteran core with a severe lack of young talent outside of Ayo Dosunmu and Patrick Williams, rumors have been flying that they may decide to begin a rebuild. Trade season is just beginning, and the Wizards could get in on the sweep stakes for the MVP candidate fairly easily.
What would a trade for DeMar DeRozan look like for the Washington Wizards?
The Washington Wizards would likely have to include a third team in this deal, possibly the Detroit Pistons or the Golden State Warriors involving picks and/or young talent. The Wizards would have to give up Will Barton, Rui Hachimura, and others as well
The Wizards would also likely need to include a decent amount of draft capital in order to get it done as well. Something they may be willing to do as their front office has struggled to hit on draft picks in recent years.
Players like Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert still have potential, but the player development in the past decade has been abysmal and should not be trusted going forward.