Washington Wizards: Four potential in-season trades to continue rebuilding

Wizards receive: Thaddeus Young, Chris Boucher, second-round pick(s)

Raptors receive: Danilo Gallinari, Landry Shamet

Another potential trade partner for the Washington Wizards in-season could be the Toronto Raptors. The direction of Toronto may be uncertain after the departure of Fred VanVleet, but retaining Jakob Poeltl and signing Dennis Schroder may suggest that they intend to be competitive again. However, they have too much dead salary on their books to really make any noise in the Eastern Conference.

The Washington Wizards could help the Raptors by acquiring two players that are not in their rotation and giving them two that potentially would be a part of the team.

Toronto is perhaps the NBA’s most shooting-challenged team. They have length, size, and athleticism but don’t have enough knock-down shooters to open up driving lanes for the likes of Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, and Pascal Siakam.

By adding two dangerous shooters in Gallinari and Shamet, Toronto makes a huge step towards solving that problem. They are the perfect team to cover up for the defensive weaknesses of the two players.

It is a low-risk move for Toronto too. They are getting out of Chris Boucher’s 2-year, $22-million deal to add players that fit better. Thaddeus Young is an expiring contract already.

The Wizards get a good veteran and mentor in Young who they could keep around. Boucher is a 3&D type of center who is not great at either of those skills. But, he is a decent bench big man who doesn’t take anything off the table on either end of the floor.

The real value is the second-round picks that Washington is getting in this deal. For players who don’t fit your timeline, getting any draft compensation should be viewed as a positive.