With the NBA season coming to a close, the Washington Wizards are soon to be on the clock in what is shaping up to be a busy offseason for team president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins.
After Sunday night's 119-107 loss to the Miami Heat, the Wizards sit at an abysmal 14-61 on the year. In the first year of their rebuilding process, the team has done as much losing as they have needed to in order to secure strong odds in this summer's NBA Draft lottery. However, there are more moves to be made outside of the draft room.
NBA writer Greg Swartz shared several offseason trade hypotheticals in a recent article for Bleacher Report, detailing where some of the league's bottom feeders could turn in the trade market this summer. Among the eight mock trades, Swartz offered was a deal between the Wizards and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Washington Wizards trade premier scorer for young talent
The proposed trade involves the Wizards trading key forward Kyle Kuzma to the Thunder, which would give Oklahoma City the veteran presence of a player who has made it to the NBA Finals and come away victorious. In exchange, the Wizards would receive a pair of young prospects: 21-year-old Josh Giddey and 20-year-old Ousmane Dieng.
Where do these players fit with the Washington Wizards?
In Swartz's summary of the Wizards' return in this proposed trade, he projects Giddey as a strong option for Washington at point guard. While his 24.8 minutes per game are well below his marks from his two previous seasons, the 6'8" guard has averaged 12.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game in 2023-24.
Giddey is shooting a career-high 34.5 percent from three-point range this year, continuing to work to improve his outside scoring ability in order to provide on offense for the 52-22 Thunder. At just 21 years old, Giddey has plenty of room to improve and grow into his role with an NBA team.
Going to the District alongside Giddey would be the 6'10" Dieng, a 20-year-old forward who has shown flashes in his brief NBA career. In his lone NBA start last April, Dieng cashed in with 22 points and eight rebounds, showing off his playmaking ability by adding nine assists to his ledger as well. The performance came in Oklahoma City's final game of the 2022-23 season, a game in which Dieng started next to current Wizards guard Jared Butler.
Grading the trade for the Washington Wizards
With the Wizards deep in a rebuild, the idea of acquiring young, high-upside players is intriguing. However, the price of swapping Kuzma without the return of any draft picks makes this trade less than desirable.
This year, Kuzma is averaging a team-high 22.3 points per game, leading the team to many of their hard-to-come-by victories. After being rumored to be on the move to the Dallas Mavericks at last February's trade deadline, Kuzma made it clear that he wants to be with the Wizards long-term. His loyalty to this franchise is something Washington fans admire and is rare to find in team history.
Kuzma's current contract keeps him locked into basketball in the District until the summer of 2027, getting increasingly cheaper year over year. His team-friendly contract, coupled with his desire to play in a Wizards uniform, makes him a player many fans would like to see stick around Washington for years to come.
Despite what Giddey and Dieng could grow to be, making this trade as a two-for-one player swap that sends Kuzma out to the Thunder would be an unwise decision for the Wizards to make.