Consistent with the words from owner Ted Leonsis, the Washington Wizards have been unwilling to budge on moving any of the core trio of John Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr.
Rival executives have noticed as much in recent talks with the organization.
“They’re not budging,” one executive told Sean Deveney of Sporting News. “Maybe they’d deal Porter, but they want a star-type player back, and that’s not happening.”
Porter would make the most sense to unload as a salary dump, as teams like the Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings have looked at him as a potential piece to the puzzle.
Both teams are fighting to get back in the playoff picture and could muster a chance with someone of Porter's skill shooting the deep ball and defending players with his athleticism.
He is due to make $27 million next year, with a player option for $28.5 million in 2019-20, a beefy but somewhat flexible salary compared to the four-year, $106.5 million figure he initially signed in 2016.
Wall has a supermax four-year, $170 million extension kicking in next year, which would put the Wizards nearly at $118 million in salary, despite having only six players signed for 2019-20.
Porter was recently moved to a bench role upon returning from injury, a role in which he has thrived in, but one that has been largely seen as a decline. Teams like the Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz have seen that as a sign of weakness, assuming the Wizards would take a reduced return for his services — but that hasn't been the case at all.
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