The Washington Wizards are a team that has been rumored to be very active on the trade market as the February trade deadline approaches.
Washington has multiple tradable assets that contending teams around the league seem to covet and understandably so. The Wizards are in a much different situation than a lot of teams around the league as they look forward to a long-awaited rebuild, while other teams look to bolster their roster in hopes of making a deep postseason run.
A few names that come to mind that the Wizards could be inclined to move off of ahead of the deadline is Kyle Kuzma, Jonas Valanciunas and Malcolm Brogdon. And while each player has plenty of value on the market, offloading each individual's contract could be the real battle as team's continue to work around the NBA's new CBA guidelines.
However, what if there was a way for the Wizards to achieve two tasks at one go? Washington's general manager Will Dawkins would almost certainly jump at the possibility of moving off each players contract, but the incoming return would be the biggest selling pouint for the GM to pull the trigger on the trade.
Well, Bleacher Report's most recent mock trade for the Wizards could allow for Washington to offload multiple veterans with the team bringing in an interesting young talent in he process.
This mock trade has the Wizards sending Kyle Kuzma, Jonas Valanciunas and Saddiq Bey to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Michael Porter Jr. and Zeke Nnaji. And while the trade may look lopsided, let's take a look at why Washington may be inclined to make this deal and why the Wizards could choose to find separate deals for each player.
Why would the Wizards accept this deal?
Considering the veterans on the roster for the Wizards, the main goal for moving on any of them, especially Kuzma, and Valanciunas would be to bring back a package to Washington that could boost their rebuild. Whether it's an abundance of draft picks, or young players, it has to be worthwhile for the Wizards to move on from veterans that could be coveted more by desperate teams elsewhere.
And while this trade doesn't bring in any draft picks, it lands the Wizards with arguably the most fascinating young players that is rumored to be on the market. Michael Porter Jr. is averaging 18.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists, while shooting 51.8% from field goal range and 40.6% from three.
At only 26 years old, the Missouri product is putting thse numbers up as the third-option in Denver. The talent is there and the potential for Porter Jr. to take another leap as the top option on a rebuilding team is appealing.
In addition to the forward, the Wizards would bring in another former first-round pick in Zeke Nnaji with the opportunity to see what the 6-foot-9 power forward has to offer.
Not to mention, Washington would be able to offload the veterans to bring in two young talents who are inked to long-term deals that would give the Wizards time to develop them until 2027 without having to make any immediate decisions.
Why would the Wizards decline this deal?
The answer for this is quite simple; Washington could prefer to trade each player individually in efforts to maximize their value. If the Wizards could capitalize on the market and bring in several different packages, they could land a boatload of future assets to utilize in the offseason or in future deals.
Furthermore, the Wizards front office could be against the idea of landing Porter Jr. who is the obvious centerpiece of the deal.