Washington Wizards: reacting to 6 trade proposals by Bleacher Report
The Washington Wizards swap Deni Avdija for a Pacers rising star
Somehow the most plausible of any of the proposed trades, this is a move that sees the Wizards trade down in value no matter how you look at it.
Statistically, Chris Duarte is just Deni Avdija with a mildly better jumper and no ability to grab rebounds. In the eye test, they are about the same except they specialize on different sides of the basketball court.
Even then, Duarte averaged an extremely inefficient 7.9 points per game in the past season. While he may have been injured for most of the year, for a perimeter player to see every single stat outside of free throw percentage drop significantly while only shooting 36.9% from the floor in their age 25 season is a huge red flag.
The Wizards would be far better off keeping Avdija. His defense has been huge for them and has shown an eagerness to grow as a shooter and as an all-around scorer. He also already knows the players, the staff, and the system. Trading him for Duarte would be a mistake. To top everything off, Duarte is three and a half years older than Avdija.
The Wizards should not entertain this offer, they would definitely lose this trade.