NBA: 5 teams that will likely be active players in the trade market this season
By Mack Biester
Washington Wizards
If I was the non-existent GM of the Washington Wizards, I’d be sweating Bullets right now (do ya, ya get it?) Of course, it makes sense to keep your 26-year old star who could have easily made All-NBA last year over Kemba Walker (thus making him infinitely more expensive to keep).
But not only are the wolves sniffing and the vultures circling the garbage fire going on in Washington, their basketball team is also struggling (Hey-O!) In all seriousness, the experiment here can only go so far before Beale wises up to the amount of power he has as a franchise-level talent and demands a trade, thus plummeting his value as a trade chip.
You’d assume this is all already happening behind closed doors, anyway, and given the haul Anthony Davis and Paul George just returned, it is a seller’s market if you’ve got a superstar to deal. Still, those are 1st team guys, and Beal as we noted before is barely 3rd team.
Don’t expect him to move for any less than a verified up-and-comer and multiple draft picks, though many are skeptical, myself included, that even an offer as such could persuade Wiz management from pulling the trigger, given that all they’d be looking for is another young star, at which point they might as well just keep the one they’ve got.
Instead, you’re far more likely to see Wall swapped to a team with nothing to lose and in need of some putting-asses-in-seats star power, potentially just a bus ride ( a long bus-ride, but still) in Orlando.