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Grade the Trade: ESPN pitches Wizards trade with Lakers

By Josh Cornelissen

Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards and Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images
Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards and Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images /
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Washington Wizards
Patrick Beverley, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images /

What does a Wizards trade with Lakers look like?

The key for any trade with the Lakers is how lucrative the picks coming back are; with LeBron James approaching AARP and Anthony Davis aging and injured, the future picks they have available to trade have a lot of upside. Bobby Marks’ configuration for the deal saw some light protections applied to the first-round pick that is coming back to the Wizards.

The Lakers are already bolstered with some former Washington bigs, and here they add another two. Vernon Carey Jr. is worth a flier and helps the money work, while Max Christie is a young wing with some upside for the Wizards. Patrick Beverley is essentially just salary filler and would be a candidate for a buyout.

For the Lakers, they get a high-scoring starter to slot in next to Anthony Davis that knows a lot about how to play alongside LeBron James and thrive on this team. The Lakers would also be fairly confident that Kuzma would consider re-signing with them to stick around. Trading one of the firsts hurt, but the protections Marks laid out ensure they can still use the 2029 pick in another deal.

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