As a result of John Wall tearing his Achilles, the Wizards had to change their strategy regarding the trade deadline. I wonder if the Wizards’ front office has been reading my blog because after I said that Otto Porter should be back in the starting lineup a few weeks ago, he became a starter again the next night. Also, after I said the team should trade Otto Porter for expiring contracts and a pick, the Wizards did exactly that a little over 24 hours later. Honestly, if I’m working for them right now, I just want to be made aware of it. All jokes aside, 3 noteworthy things happened around the deadline, and we are going to run through them together right now:
Wizards receive: Jabari Parker, Bobby Portis, 2023 Second-Round Pick
Bulls receive: Otto Porter Jr.
Even though I will miss Otto, I like this trade a lot. Without Wall for most of, if not all of, next season, the Wizards need financial flexibility this upcoming offseason, and that is exactly what this trade got them. Bobby Portis is owed $2.4 million this year and his contract expires after this season. He is shooting 37.5% from 3 which is solid, and the Wizards will have until the end of June to submit a $3.6 million qualifying offer if they have any desire to keep him. Jabari Parker is under a 2-year $40 million contract with next year being a team option; That should definitely be declined…. There is no doubt that he is an offensively talented player, but he has never played much defense and has had multiple ACL tears in his career. He is not a player that should be allocated $20 million of cap space. With this trade, the Wizards bought themselves at least $24 million more to work with this offseason than they would have had if they kept Otto, and I absolutely love the flexibility it gives them to chase free agents. It also, more than likely, made them a little worse, so they should get a better draft pick as a result. Later, the second-round draft pick the Wizards got in this trade ended up being sent off to the Pelicans in another trade that occurred a few hours later:
Wizards Receive: Wesley Johnson
Pelicans Receive: Markieff Morris and 2023 Second- Round Draft Pick
The biggest thing that this trade did was get the Wizards below the luxury tax line, so they will not be subject to repeater taxes. On top of not having to pay taxes, they will receive their share of tax payments distributed to non-taxpaying teams. Other than that, this trade does not carry a lot of weight. Wesley Johnson this season was only playing 6.7 minutes a game for the Pelicans on an expiring deal, and Kieff has been sidelined with a neck injury for much of the season. This was strictly a financial move and a good move by the front office.
The Wizards only have 5 contracts guaranteed through next season now, so free agency will be a busy time for them. One free agent it looks like they have a good chance to sign is Trevor Ariza…
He is a good, veteran piece that brings a lot of versatility on the wing, and could help mentor young players like Jordan McRae and Troy Brown. If the Wizards could retain him at a reasonable price, I would have no problem with them resigning him.
Hopefully they use their new financial flexibility well in free agency and get a good pick in this year’s draft now that they look to be way out of the playoff race. Overall, this was a very successful trade deadline for the team. I was pleasantly surprised to see the front office not be content to just keep on trying the same things over and over again expecting different results. John Wall’s injury and a homeloss to the Hawks changed the situation for the team, and the front office adapted well. This gives them breathing room and options going into an offseason that will have a lot of good players heading into free agency. It should be fun!!
Tweet at me your comments and reactions to the Wizards trade deadline moves! @Boosbulletsblog. Also, best of luck to Markieff Morris and Otto Porter on their new rosters!
Boo On The Bullets 