Washington Wizards: reacting to a trade proposal revolving around D’Angelo Russell

In a recent article by Josh Cornelissen proposed a trade on fellow FanSided site Dunking with Wolves that would see former All-Star D’Angelo Russell join the Washington Wizards.

Since the beginning of trade season, many have speculated that D’Angelo Russell may be moved to the Wizards. This is easily one of the most Wiz friendly trade proposals that would still land them an All-Star caliber player.

This would really sting for the Wizards as Delon Wright has been a key player in their defensive scheme they can replace him with Jordan Goodwin, who would need to be converted to a full NBA contract. Past that issue, there is nothing horrible here for the team as Russell brings everything that they are losing but at a higher level.

On top of this, Russell is on an expiring contact, meaning that he could take a big chunk of a pay cut after this season, possibly allowing them to not only resign Kyle Kuzma, but also bring in other great role players.

While Tommy Sheppard has been horrible in the draft and in free agency as the Wizards GM, he has been fantastic when making trades for star players. He built both the trade for Kyle Kuzma and the trade for Kristaps Porzingis. He also made the move for Russell Westbrook, a player who played incredibly well in his lone season in DC The Wiz are the clear-cut winners of both of those trades.

If he thinks they can get value out of D’Angelo Russell, then they should absolutely go for it. He has proven that fans should trust him in these big block buster deals. He has gotten it done in this area.

To add to that, Russell has proven that he is capable of playing decent perimeter defense, something he is commonly criticized for. During his time with the Golden State Warriors, he was even praised by one of the greatest defensive players of all time Draymond Green who in a 2019 interview said “…Yesterday, he was asked to defend, and he showed that he can. I told him that’ll be the expectation moving forward.”

Having any sort of recognition as a defender from a player like Green is something that proves that he is capable of at least challenging opposing guards. Wes Unseld Jr may be able to capitalize on this and get production from Russell on that side of the floor.

If D’Angelo Russell is capable of playing at least decent defense while creating good looks in a halfcourt set, the Washington Wizards could look very scary come playoff time. I think this is a deal worth making.