It's the rebuilding teams that cannot be forgiven for moving on from young players too quickly.
A contending team has to prioritize depth that is playable in the postseason. That could mean that there is not enough room for developmental players, for example. The Oklahoma City Thunder just moved on from Ousmane Dieng, for example, and he still has a chance to turn into a starter.
The Washington Wizards, however, have no business prioritizing win-now players over young prospects who still boast real potential. Even so, they just traded combo guard Jaden Hardy and a pair of second-round picks to the Los Angeles Lakers for veteran center Deandre Ayton.
The Wizards are trying to run too quickly
The Wizards just earned the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft because of how abjectly terrible they were last season. They have spent multiple seasons languishing at the bottom of the standings, adding lottery picks to the roster, without landing a surefire future star.
Until this season, when they secured the No. 1 pick and drafted BYU forward AJ Dybantsa. Now, the path forward should be to deliberately build out a roster around him that can contend in the Eastern Conference for years to come. The last thing they should do is rush that process.
Of course, that is exactly what the Wizards are doing. They added Trae Young at last year's trade deadline and committed a massive contract to him this summer. They likewise added Anthony Davis and are rebuffing other teams from trading for him.
The worst move, however, was trading away a young player in Hardy and multiple draft picks to secure a third big. That is an area of need to address when you're gearing up for a playoff run; it's hardly a necessity when you're still firmly in the rebuilding stage.
Jaden Hardy still has a chance
Jaden Hardy still has real upside to put things together and be a rotation guard in the NBA. Deandre Ayton has already established the kind of center he will be, and it has a very capped ceiling. This was a peculiar trade by the Wizards.
The Lakers now have the opportunity to give Hardy a chance. Already on his third team, Hardy has real NBA skill. He is a combo guard with a tight handle, good passing vision and a smooth jumper. The former G League Ignite player has shown flashes in his first few seasons in the league, but hasn't yet broken through.
He looked close down the stretch of last season, however. He averaged 20 minutes per game for the Wizards in 23 appearances and hit 42 percent of his six 3-pointers per game. He put up 12.6 points per game despite rarely being the No. 1 option and often playing off-the-ball.
There is something still in there for Hardy. Perhaps he never puts it all together in the NBA to make up for his defensive limitations. Perhaps the Lakers discard him and he is fighting for his NBA life.
Or perhaps he finds the right team to believe in him, starts knocking down shots consistently from all over the court, and he carves out a long-term NBA career. Balancing those possibilities is never easy, and NBA teams have to make hard decisions.
Giving up on Hardy to add Ayton? That is taking a small piec eof upside and discarding it for absolutely none. It's a head-scratching move from a team trying to go from zero to 60 a little too quickly.
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