The Washington Wizards are expected to be active during this trade deadline, but only looking for minor moves to make, according to Chris Miller of NBC Sports Washington.
The Wizards have been rumored to dangle underachieving center Marcin Gortat prior to the deadline, but in reality, the organization is only looking for complimentary pieces to help them gain shape prior to the start of the playoffs.
Washington is set to pay the luxury tax for the first time under owner Ted Leonsis this season, so the front office likely won't be looking to rack up even more salary this season, according to Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.
The Wizards have made trades involving first-round picks in the past, including Gortat, forward Markieff Morris and former back-up shooting guard Bojan Bogdanovic. But as it stands at the moment, only one player, Kelly Oubre Jr., is still on a rookie-scale contract.
Oubre has had his best season to date and can likely generate plenty of attention from other teams. Washington could sell-high on Oubre and avoid having to sign him to a contract with John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter already on max contracts — but the market is significantly tight on someone of equal pay that can make that much different — so he's likely to stay put.
The team's biggest problem revolves around Gortat and Ian Mahinmi, two players with sizable contracts that could prove very hard to move in a squalid trade deadline market. But as their front office has found out — sometimes no deal is better than a bad deal.
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