The Washington Wizards made the move to land Malcolm Brogdon over the offseason in a draft-night deal with the Portland Trail Blazers that sent Deni Avdija to the Western Conference.
At the time, when Brogdon joined Washington, many didn’t expect the veteran guard to stand pat with the Wizards in the future. It was believed initially that general manager Will Dawkins could look to move the veteran in another deal, almost immediately.
However, months later, Brogdon finds himself still on the Wizards roster and even has gone on the record to say that suiting up for the Wiz is a dream come true. And while fans may not see the point in keeping the 31-year-old on the roster for the future, it may not be up to the Wizards to offload him now.
Here’s a breakdown as to why Brogdon may end the season with the Wizards.
Limited trade market
Brogdon could be a contributor to every single team in the league. The savvy vet is defensive-minded, with a reliable jump shot and the facilitating skills to roll him out in a variation of different lineups. Between his size and basketball IQ, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the guard garner interest on the trade market.
Unfortunately, with his $22.5 million salary, finding a trade partner who can match the salary of the guard will be a challenge. It will be rare to find a team that is willing to send back a player of the caliber of Brogdon in hopes of upgrading their roster.
And with the new CBA guidelines, Washington can’t exactly move off the guard for young players and draft assets. As a result, Brogdon being moved via trade could be a tall task.
Not a likely buyout candidate
The other option for the Wizards and Brogdon would be to work towards a buyout for the guard to have the opportunity to choose his next location to compete with a contender. However, while that sounds like a grand idea, due to the aforementioned CBA guidelines, it could be difficult for either side to find this as a realistic solution.
Not only would the Wizards lose a valuable asset for nothing, but Brogdon would not be as open to signing on with a contender as he may hope. With the guard making more than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($12,405,000), he will only be able to sign with teams who are not over the first tax apron.
That said, contenders like the Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, and Miami Heat are all immediately off the table. Assuming one of those teams was an ideal landing spot for the vet, he wouldn’t have the opportunity to sign with them.
Nonetheless, the avenues for Brogdon to land with a different team seem to be a bit more difficult than it is to allow the newly acquired Wizards guard to mentor a young squad.