The Washington Wizards dealt youth for youth hours ahead of the NBA trade deadline Thursday, making a modest move that keeps the nucleus of the team’s roster intact. The team traded center Moritz Wagner and guard Troy Brown Jr., the organization’s No. 15 pick in the 2018 draft, to Chicago for 22-year-old big man Daniel Gafford and 24-year-old small forward Chandler Hutchison.
Chicago later flipped Wagner and big man Luke Kornet for center Daniel Theis in a deal with the Boston Celtics, according to multiple reports.
Given that all-star guard Bradley Beal was expected to remain the franchise cornerstone at least through the season, Washington’s front office felt confident in its core players approaching Thursday’s 3 p.m. deadline, even as the team stands 13th in the Eastern conference at 15-27 entering Thursday night’s matchup with the Knicks.
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General Manager Tommy Sheppard said after the moves that his expectations for the team remain high — though he did not specifically mention making the playoffs as he did toward the beginning of the season and as Coach Scott Brooks continues to do.
“At the beginning of the season, our expectations — I still have high expectations of this team,” Sheppard said. “You couldn’t foresee what happened to this team. Certainly, I’m not making any excuses, but that’s something we’ve had to experience, go through, and deal with and it’s something that certainly hurt us in the win column. We move forward. We still have high expectations. Things take care of themselves. We’ll see where we are at the end of the season.”
With Beal squarely at the center of the picture, Washington turned its attention to the roster’s margins. Sheppard felt the ultimate outcome of Thursday’s move is that the Wizards improved on defense.
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In Gafford, Washington acquired a 6-foot-10 frontcourt player who averaged 4.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 31 games with the Bulls. Sheppard praised his shot-blocking ability and athleticism as a potential complement to starting center Thomas Bryant. Bryant is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.
“Well, unfortunately we witnessed it firsthand a couple times when we played Chicago, but he’s a quick jumper,” Sheppard said. “Very powerful. He gets up in a hurry, he has some impressive offensive highlights, but for us, it’s more about — players are feeling it when they go down in the paint. There’s a detriment to coming into the paint when he’s down there, he’s going to knock your shot back or he’s going to really alter your shot at the rim.”
Gafford, in particular, also offered a team-friendly contract. The 22-year-old is on a non-guaranteed contract for $1.8 million next year that includes a $1.9 million team option the season after. The Wizards created a $2.1 million trade exception in the deal that will allow them more flexibility to make trades this summer even if they are over the salary cap.
To Washington
Chandler Hutchison- $2.4M and $4M (extension eligible)
Daniel Gafford- $1.5M, $1.8M (non-guaranteed) and $1.9M (team)
$2.1M TE created
To Chicago
Troy Brown- $3.8M and $5.2M (extension eligible)
Mo Wagner- $2.2M
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) March 25, 2021Hutchison, a 6-foot-6 wing, lands with the Wizards as more of an unknown. A first-round pick in 2018, Hutchison has played just 79 career games. He saw action in just seven games for the Bulls this season, most recently on Feb. 5, because of what Sheppard implied was some long-term issues related to covid-19. He averaged 1.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in his few appearances this season.
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Both Gafford and Hutchison are expected to take physicals Friday and Sheppard hopes they will be in a Wizards uniform for Saturday’s matchup with the Pistons.
In Chicago and Boston, Brown and Wagner — two players who never found stable footing in Washington despite valuable elements to their games — get a chance at a fresh start.
In Brown, Washington shed a player who has struggled to find his place in the organization since arriving as a first-round pick three years ago.
The 21-year-old played limited minutes in 21 games this year and averaged 4.3 points, shooting 37.1 percent from the field and 30 percent from three. Brown, according to multiple executives on opposing teams, was regarded as one of the Wizards’ more intriguing assets at the trade deadline as a young shooting guard with perhaps some untapped potential.
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The Wizards declined to pick up Wagner’s fourth-year option earlier this season before the 23-year-old worked his way into starting 13 games. He averaged 7.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and filled a void as Washington’s energy source in the wake of starting center Bryant’s injury.
“This time of the year a lot of things go on and it’s tough for players, it’s tough for everybody,” Brooks said before Washington played the Knicks in New York. “It’s not an easy day. I’ve been there before, it’s not easy, but you’ve got to understand it’s part of the business and you understand when that happens, there’s always one team that wants you. I was informed of it, made some phone calls to players, some good conversations and honest conversations. That’s how I handle it.
“But we’re excited. I know it’s not official, we can’t talk about it in detail, but we’re excited. We knew that we had an opportunity to improve our team in certain areas that we’ve been lacking.”
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