Subscribe
Follow Us
The Washington Wizards have reportedly taken off the untradable label from their All-Star backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal, but while the latter is the younger and more succulent asset for inquiring teams, trading Wall could prove the smarter move for the franchise. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski discussed on The Russillo Show that teams like the Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans would be among the few viable franchises that would take on that gamble.
“I would say it would be two teams like these two, a Miami, a New Orleans, teams that are very much in win-now modes,” said Wojnarowski. “Does Pat Riley care about having a $47 million contract on [Wall's] deal five years from now?… Miami is always willing to gamble on talent. They always have been, ‘We'll make it work and we'll coach him and we'll bring him into our environment.'
“I'm not saying they are interested, I'm just saying those are the teams you have to look at. Those might be the places that would weigh it.”
The Heat have swung and missed with two of their long-term signings in Dion Waiters and James Johnson, and they have been looking to add a franchise star to take over Dwyane Wade's mantle.
Riley notably tried to trade for Jimmy Butler, but the Minnesota Timberwolves' back-and-forth was too much to bear, especially involving one of their rising talents in Josh Richardson.
Article Continues Below
The Pelicans, meanwhile, have a delicate situation with Anthony Davis, and they will need to surround him with elite talent to have any sort of argument as to why he should stay. The money the team can offer him is grand, but Davis is at a point in his career where he is hoping to capitalize on his prime and contend for a title.
“New Orleans is in a situation where they're going to do whatever they can to put talent around Anthony Davis before he has to make a decision on his future there,” said Woj. “Again, that's taking on a lot of money, it might be taking on another pick going forward. I'm not saying the Pelicans would do that, but those are the kind of places that you would see that are in a mode of ‘we need to take a gamble.'
“It's going to be really hard to move [Wall] and get back the value that makes sense to move him.”
The Wizards would likely have to be willing to take a considerable loss in value to trade John Wall, considering just how much other franchises put at risk by trading a player bound to enter a four-year supermax deal worth nearly $170 million.
Washington will need to be willing to take the bulk of expiring contracts as well to make the trade work, but it is one that could ultimately free them of the burden of the luxury tax once 2019-20 comes around.
