It is exactly mid-way through the season and the Washington Wizards are 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 17-24 record. They are on pace for another season that is not good enough for the playoffs and not bad enough for a high draft pick. Now more than ever, they need to pick a direction. Either trade your expiring contracts for a win-now move to go all-in on this current core, or blow the roster up and tank the rest of the season for a chance at Victor Wembanyama.
If the Wizards end up choosing the logical path of tanking and rebuilding, they need to make some moves before the February 9 trade deadline.
This may be hard to stomach for a lot of fans, but this franchise needs a superstar, and the best way to get a superstar is to draft him. And to draft him, you need to bottom out. And to bottom out, you need to trade away your good players for young players and draft assets.
Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma have player options for next year and they are likely to opt-out and require a new long-term contract. Given both are having career seasons, they will be pretty expensive to re-sign. It might make sense to sell high on them and have another team sign them to a multi-year deal. Not only would this allow the Wizards to add some future draft picks and young players, but it would also help them lose a ton of games the rest of the year and increase their odds for a high lottery pick.
Bradley Beal, on the other hand, signed an extension recently and has three plus one years left on his contract after this season. He also has a no-trade clause in his contract, so he would need to agree to any trade that he is involved in. The Wizards need to explore deals for him as well – especially if another team is willing to give up positive assets for his overpaid contract- and hope that Beal is happy with his proposed destination.
Let’s take a look at some potential trades that could help the Wizards start their rebuild this season.
The Washington Wizards could look to reunite with their former point guard to help kickstart the rebuild.
Yes, another Russell Westbrook trade with the Los Angeles Lakers. If it were to happen, the Washington Wizards would end up the winner of this one as well.
The Lakers have long been rumored to be interested in Bradley Beal to create a Big Three along with Lebron James and Anthony Davis. They are running out of time to pull the trigger on a move to get them back to championship contention. Lebron seems to be losing patience with the Lakers, so they are desperate to make a move at this deadline.
The two first-rounders into the future are all the Lakers can trade away. However, if the protections on these picks were non-existent or minimal, they could have a very high upside. Betting on the failure of a team that is as poorly managed as the Lakers is always a good idea. Just ask the New Orleans Pelicans, who drafted Dyson Daniels in 2022 with the 8th pick they received from the Lakers, and two more likely lottery picks coming in 2023 and 2024.
The Westbrook aspect of this trade is just salary fodder. The Wizards could buy him out and let him go to a contender, or just re-sign him to a reasonable contract when his contract expires this summer. At this stage of his career, Westbrook is not going to help you win too many games and compromise the tanking efforts.
Beal would need to sign off on this trade to happen, but it would be hard to imagine he would say no to the opportunity to play for the Los Angeles Lakers next to Lebron James and Anthony Davis.
Selling high on Kristaps Porzingis may be a great option for the Washington Wizards.
When Porzingis opts out of his contract at the end of the season, it might be costly for the Wizards to re-sign him. Especially if the Washington Wizards decide to rebuild it doesn’t make too much sense to give Porzingis a multi-year deal worth more than $40 million a year. He will be more valuable to many other teams around the league. One of these teams can be the New Orleans Pelicans.
Porzingis is an ideal fit next to Zion Williamson. Porzingis spaces the floor, opens up driving lanes and can protect the rim behind Williamson on the defensive end. He could take the Pelicans to the next level and make them a serious championship contender.
The Wizards, on the other hand, get a very talented, young wing with two-way potential in Trey Murphy III. Murphy is already a high-end rotation player for one of the best teams in the league. He is an elite shooter and a decent defender with the potential to be more on both ends of the floor.
Valanciunas and Graham are in the deal more for salary-matching purposes, but they are both solid players. Especially Valanciunas, who is on a very reasonable contract can always be traded again for a positive value.
The Wizards also get a first-round pick from this deal to later use on a young prospect or in another deal. The New Orleans Pelicans seemingly have an endless well of future first-round draft picks, not only their own but also extras from the Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks. They could be willing to part with one or two of them for a chance at Porzingis.
Trading for some rising stars from the New York Knicks would give the Washington Wizards some key building blocks.
Kyle Kuzma is having a breakout season, averaging over 20 points for the first time in his career. He has size, scoring, playmaking, and a solid defense; all qualities that are more helpful on a playoff team than a rebuilding one.
Plus, when he opts out of his contract this summer, he is going to require over $20 million a year to re-sign. If the Washington Wizards choose to rebuild, giving 28-year-old Kuzma a multi-year deal at that price is not the best use of their money.
Therefore, it makes more sense to sell high on Kuzma and get some assets back. Kuzma is a good enough player to warrant a couple of solid young players or a decent first rounder plus a young talented player.
Enter the New York Knicks. They have a lot of future first-round draft picks and young players to choose from in a trade. And since they are desperately trying to make it into the playoffs, a fifth starter in Kuzma next to Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson core would do wonders for their playoff chances.
Cam Reddish has not thrived for either the Atlanta Hawks or the New York Knicks. But he is worth a flyer to see what he can become given his positional size and skill level. Obi Toppin has shown enough flashes in his limited minutes with his athleticism that he can be a rotation-level player with a chance to be more. Quickley is a dynamic, multi-dimensional scorer who has the potential to be a two-way starter-level player.
The Knicks have even more intriguing prospects like Jericho Sims or Miles McBride that they might be willing to part with for Kuzma.
The Wizards can decide who they like the best out of all these young players and combine them with a first-round pick or multiple second-round picks, as well.
If the Washington Wizards are able to cash in on any or all of these trades, it would start give them a great head start on their rebuild while also helping maximize their shot at the highly anticipated Victor Wembanyama.