The Wizards Quietly Had a Good Day

The NBA was buzzin’ today as the 3:00 PM trade deadline approached. Contenders strengthened their teams, bottom tier rosters sold for the future, and some just stayed put. I was very curious to see what the Wizards would have up their sleeve today besides possibly trading Bertans, and Tommy Sheppard did not disappoint. Bertans was not traded, and Tommy Sheppard put together 2 beneficial trades.

Why Keeping Bertans is a Good Thing

Bertans is one of the best 3-point shooters in the league, and with Mahinmi’s contract coming off of the books at the end of the season, the Wizards should be able to resign him to a long term deal. It isn’t necessary to package a guy like Bertans for picks right now because he’s young enough to be a key role player for seasons to come. Also, the Wizards have an abundance of young players already, so they can focus on developing the guys already on the roster instead of worrying about stockpiling extra picks.

Trade #1: Wizards get: Jerome Robinson        Clippers get: Isaiah Thomas

The New York Knicks were a part of this deal as well, but we aren’t going to spend time worrying about that here since it did not affect the Wizards.

Getting rid of Thomas is HUGE. If you have ever read this blog before, you know I am not a fan of his at all. Throughout the whole season, Thomas has been playing no defense, turning the ball over, and jacking up jump horrendous shots. He still has a lot of offensive talent, but his being on the court does not facilitate the growth of guys like Rui Hachimura, Mo Wagner, Thomas Bryant, Troy Brown jr., etc.

On top of getting rid of Thomas, the Wizards picked up a very good, young player in Jerome Robinson. Robinson is only in his second year in the NBA after being selected 13th overall in 2018 by the Clippers, and he could develop into a really good player. Over the summer, I had the chance of seeing Robinson play in person at the Las Vegas NBA Summer League, and I was reminded why I loved his game so much when he was at Boston College. Robinson can score in a variety of ways and is very smooth with the basketball, but my biggest concern is durability. He has been banged up a decent amount early on in his career which has stunted his development a little bit. Overall though, I am very pleased with this trade and am excited to have Robinson here.

Trade #2: Wizards get: Shabazz Napier      Nuggets get: Jordan McRae

I am a huge fan of Jordan McRae, and I think this is an underrated get for the Nuggets. However, this trade made sense for the Wizards as well. Trading IT meant that the Wizards were down a PG, and getting Jerome Robinson meant that there is a former lottery pick SG to develop. So, the Wizards – in need of a PG and in need of moving a SG- made a deal to flip Jordan McRae for Shabazz Napier. Napier is a former first-round pick and 2x NCAA champion at UCONN. In his first 6 years in the league, Napier has been a bit of a journeyman but has shown the ability to stick around the NBA as a serviceable back-up PG. He isn’t a gifted scorer, but he is shifty enough to get paint touches to create opportunities for his teammates which has resulted in him averaging over 5 assists per game in Minnesota. This trade is not as exciting as trade #1 but was another solid move by Tommy Sheppard.

Overall, it was a quiet but successful day in the office for the Wizards. This organization is being run way more competently now that Sheppard is at the helm, and it’s going to pay off!!