Wizards' dream offseason target may have just become more available than anticipated

The NBA trade deadline is still days away and the league-wide landscape has already been flipped on its head.

Following the Washington Wizards first blockbuster move of trade season to acquire four-time All-Star Trae Young, trade winds around the league seemingly quieted down.

However, on Tuesday, things picked back up with a surprising swing from the Utah Jazz to make a bold trade for former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr., who's just beginning to enter his prime.

Averaging 19.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists, while shooting an efficient 47.5% from field goal range and 35.9% from beyond the arc, the 26-year-old finds himself outside of the Memphis Grizzlies' long-term plans as the team gears up towards a bit of a rebuild as rumors continue to swirl about a potential Ja Morant trade on the horizon.

Nonetheless, the blockbuster trade says less about the Grizzlies' future rebuilding plans and more about the Jazz, who've been quietly stacking the young talent and draft capital to make a move of this size feasible over recent years.

Utah is seemingly looking to compete sooner rather than later and with the jump from rising star Keyonte George this season, the addition of Jackson Jr. in the team's frontcourt is intriguing.

Despite that, the arrival of Jackson Jr. stirs the pot for the team's future plans for several reasons, but one reason in specific is the looming free agency of Walker Kessler, who's set to enter the offseason as a restricted free agent.

Now, with a major addition to the frontcourt with Jackson and his lucrative contract, the Jazz may have a hard time retaining the likes of Kessler, who's widely expected to have robust market in free agency.

All that to say, the Wizards dream offseason target may have just become more available than originally anticipated.

Wizards have a real chance at Walker Kessler in RFA

As previously reported, the Wizards interest in pending restricted free agent Walker Kessler is real.

Washington is expected to have the cap space to be aggressive on the free agent market and with the Auburn product being a player the Wizards view as an ideal pairing to Alex Sarr in the frontcourt, the possibility of the Jazz being priced out already seemed realistic.

Now, with the addition of Jackson Jr., the financial restrictions that Austin Ainge and long-time NBA executive Danny Ainge will be tasked to work with could have just made the possibility of re-signing the coveter center even more difficult than it was originally expected to be.

For the Wizards, this blockbuster trade may have made them one of the most overlooked winners of the trade deadline, especially if they manage to land Kessler this offseason.