In the aftermath of the Rui Hachimura trade, the Washington Wizards have a roster that in no less incomplete than it was a week ago. This leads many to speculate that there may be more to come from the front office.
The holes in the roster remain the same as they were before as Kendrick Nunn is nowhere near a sure-fire starting caliber point guard. Since his injury, Nunn has been a third string guard at his best. Not really something that could fix every issue with the Wizards.
They also still have a significant lack of back up centers on the roster. They are forced to either go really small or use an aging Taj Gibson, who is also a shorter player for a center. This could be problematic for the team as they struggle to keep size on the floor since Kristaps Porzingis sprained his ankle.
Even with Porzingis available, he is always the go to “backup center” as he slides over to give Gafford a rest. This puts extra strain on him, and he almost needs to play with both Delon Wright and Deni Avdija to keep the defensive pressure going.
It’s possible that the Washington Wizards made the Hachimura trade for a reason.
With how little they received in return for Hachimura, it’s possible that they have already found a trade suitor that has a quality big man they want to move. There’s a possibility that the new suitor had little interest in Hachimura and wanted a backup point guard and some picks.
That is an incredibly optimistic and best-case scenario situation. That is insanely unlikely to happen, but weirder things have happened.
Many fans of the Wizards doubt that Nunn will ever play a game for the Washington Wizards and will instead be part of a larger trade closer to the deadline that could complete the roster. If this is the case, that may be the best path forward for the Wizards given their ideas of building around their “big 3.”