NBA Trade Rumors: 5 likely sellers heading into the trade deadline
By Kyle McKee
Washington Wizards
Heading back east to our nation’s capital to a franchise that has been stuck in mediocrity seemingly forever: The Washington Wizards.
The Wizards have made the playoffs 16 times since the 1980-81 season. Out of those 16 appearances, they have advanced to the second round five times and have never reached a conference finals during that time frame.
The only other franchises that haven’t made the conference finals over the past 43 years are the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Hornets, formerly known as the Charlotte Bobcats, became a franchise in 2004. The Pelicans, formerly known as the Charlotte Hornets before moving to New Orleans in 2002, became a franchise in 1988, a part of the NBA’s expansion with the Miami Heat.
Confusing I know, but the main takeaway is the Wizards own the largest conference finals drought in the league by a mile.
This is not the season the Wizards break that streak and reach the conference finals.
Speaking of not being the year for the Wizards, it’s also, most likely, not going to be the year Bradley Beal finally gets dealt.
It’s unlikely given how few games Beal has played this season and how poorly he’s performed when he’s been out on the floor relative to his previous seasons. Plus, Beal has a no-trade clause, so any potential deal would have to be agreed upon with Beal. If anything, the Wizards might look to trade him over the off-season.
Everyone else on the Wizards roster should be available in the trade market.
One of those guys is Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis may get a lot of hate for his health issues and how things ended in Dallas with how much the Mavs improved as soon as he was dealt, but the seven-footer has played very well for the Wiz this season.
Porzingis has played in 39 of the Wizards’ 44 games and has averaged 22.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and one steal per game this season.
He’s a guy that, when healthy, could be very valuable to a playoff team with his rim protection, floor spacing as a big, and offensive capabilities. The Wizards would be wise to see what they could get for the 27-year-old Latvian hooper.
Another player the Wizards will get a lot of interest in from other teams is Kyle Kuzma.
Since joining the Wizards, Kuzma has developed into a really good player. He’s averaging a career-high 21.6 points and 3.9 assists per game, along with 7.5 rebounds, and has played in every game but one so far this season.
Veterans like Will Barton, Monte Morris, Daniel Gafford, and Delon Wright are all players that could be valuable role players on a playoff team and will generate interest as the trade deadline approaches.
The Wizards have been one of the most incompetently run franchises in sports over the past 40 years.
The most memorable Wizards moment over that time span was John Wall jumping onto the scorer’s table after hitting a game-winning three-pointer over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the second round to save their season.
A few days later though, Washington was outscored 62-50 in the second half of Game 7, gave up 26 points to Kelly Olynyk, and lost by 10 to one of the worst one seeds in NBA history in those 2016-17 Boston Celtics.
The Wizards need to do something drastic if they want to have better memories than that over the next 40 years. Trading away the players of value on their roster and tanking the second half of the season to try and get a top pick is in their best interest.