Poole & Bey to Pels for McCollum and Wizard-Killer

[dcPress]

I liked Poole a lot more this year but he’d probably be too expensive on his next contract. Plus with improvement in the young guys our pick might have been under pressure

[nate33]

It may well be that this trade was done to facilitate another trade.

I think that is definitely the case.

Remember, the trade technically hasn't happened yet. There is still time to roll other teams into the transaction so we don't have to comply with the annoying rules about keeping one's newly acquired player until December 15th and not packaging him with other players.

[verbal8]

The 2nd round of this draft seems pretty awful with so many guys going back to school. I don’t think #40 has much value.

They just got out of 34 million in 2026 for free.

From a players production perspective it is positive. From an age and draft compensation perspective, it is a downgrade. From a financial perspective it is a big upgrade.

[payitforward]

Be nice to know when that "future R2 pick" will come our way...

[Benjammin]

I saw something about it being in 2027 from the Bulls fwiw.

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[dobrojim]

Read on Twitter

The Washington Wizards have agreed to trade guard Jordan Poole, wing Saddiq Bey and the 40th pick in this year’s draft to the New Orleans Pelicans for guard CJ McCollum, big man Kelly Olynyk and a 2027 second-round pick that originally belonged to Chicago, team sources told The Athletic.

Poole, 26, just completed his second season with the Wizards, a comeback season of sorts in which he played point guard extensively and, with the ball in his hands, enhanced his trade value. Poole averaged a career-high 20.5 points per game, tied a career high with 4.5 assists per game and sank a career-high 37.8 percent of his 3-point tries.

As the 2024-25 season continued, and especially after trading Kyle Kuzma to the Milwaukee Bucks in early February, Washington’s offense improved its ball movement, with shots distributed more democratically, especially among second-year player Bilal Coulibaly and rookies Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George, AJ Johnson and Alex Sarr.

By moving Poole now, the Wizards hope to further increase their ball movement and increase the playmaking opportunities and shot opportunities for the team’s young players, including whomever the Wizards select in this year’s draft, while also incorporating more experienced players such as Khris Middleton, Corey Kispert and McCollum into the mix.

Bey, 26, is fully healed from the March 2024 ACL surgery that forced him to miss the 2024-25 season. Trading Bey will ease, but not eliminate, a crunch for playing time among Washington’s perimeter players, a group that includes Coulibaly, George, Johnson, Kispert, Middleton and now McCollum.

From Washington’s perspective, there is a strong cap-management benefit to this deal, beginning with the 2026 offseason.

With this trade, and specifically by offloading Poole’s onerous contract, the Wizards now project to have as much as $100 million in cap space for the summer of 2026 — cap space that could open an array of roster-construction avenues but most likely will be used that summer to accept contracts in trades if those contracts include future draft picks attached to them. Under Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger and Wizards general manager Will Dawkins, who are entering their third seasons in Washington, the Wizards have prioritized adding future draft picks.

Poole is under contract for two more full seasons, at fully guaranteed salaries of $31.9 million for 2025-26 and $34.0 million for 2026-27. Bey is under contract for a fully guaranteed $6.1 million for 2025-26 and a $6.4 million team option for 2026-27.

For McCollum, 33, and Olynyk, 34, the 2025-26 season will be the final year of their current contracts.

McCollum averaged 21.1 points in four seasons with the Pelicans and played a pivotal role in them reaching the playoffs in 2022 and 2024. It also only took him 223 games in New Orleans to go down as the franchise’s all-time leader in 3-pointers (692).

This is the first major move by the Pelicans’ new executive vice president of basketball operations, Joe Dumars, and new senior vice president of basketball operations, Troy Weaver. Weaver spent the 2024-25 season with the Wizards as a senior adviser within the front office and has a strong familiarity with Poole and Bey.

McCollum is expected to add veteran leadership on the Wizards’ roster, which team officials deem important with unrestricted free agent guard Malcolm Brogdon likely to sign elsewhere this summer.

McCollum, who is more comfortable playing off the ball than Poole is, also should help enhance playmaking and shot-creation opportunities for the Wizards’ young players. McCollum is a lower-usage player than Poole and also has a better assist-to-turnover ratio than Poole.

One of the Wizards’ priorities is to retain their own first-round pick for the 2026 draft. Because of a trade made in 2020, Washington would convey its 2026 first-round pick to the New York Knicks if it falls outside the top eight.

By making today’s trade, the Wizards are giving more player-development opportunities for their youngest players and, in the process, likely will increase the likelihood of retaining their 2026 first-round pick.

Today’s trade is expected to be made official on, or after, July 6, with the start of the league’s new cap year.

My expectation is the cap space will be used to obtain draft picks as the real goal, not to acquire even short term expensive free agents. I don't see them, at least not for a few more years in the future, trying to get high level FAs.

I believe they will try to build a competitive team that will not have to overpay for top talent or at least will be attractive to top talent.

They will accept some short term overpaid players in order to acquire draft picks while focusing on player development of their draftees.

[dobrojim]

Wonder what the addition of Olynick mean for Vukcevic. If he's signed for this year we''ll have 3 "soft" centers and continue to get pushed around. I think Vuk is gone and we'll be looking for some beef. Or Olynick is not long for the Wizards.

the guy on Dirty Buckets, an entertaining goofball perhaps, wants KO gone yesterday. Still remembers KO hurting us in gm 7 in BOS.

I wouldn't be surprised if KO got moved, maybe not right away, but during the season.

[dobrojim]

Do people think we keep McCollum? I feel like he gets moved.

That's what I was wondering too, I get the sense that McCollum and Olynk would be easier to move live in this draft as assets: both are expirings, have some utility, whereas Poole had two more crappy years left on his deal. I was assuming this deal meant we could package these guys in a move. I hate losing 40, but maybe in packaging these guys, we have more flexibility in the draft itself? I guess the worst case is we just flip one or both at the deadline for pick(s).

He's only got a year left before he expires. I don't think it's a big deal either way. If someone offers draft capital, they take it.

[gambitx777]

If we end up with #3 and #6.....

we won't the deal will be:

6 + Middleton + Kispert for 3 + PG13

its a terrible trade but thats what it will be

You're not paying attention to the cost of getting money off the books. No way we take ont 100+ million and give up the 6th pick that just isn't how that works and would be terrible for us.

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[dobrojim]

Guess this means we're definitely going guard at 6 or 18. If McCollum becomes a hoped-for expiring-to-move we'll need more help. Unless they're banking on Johnson...

Unless Bailey slips, most of the other top prospects are guards. That said, you still have Bub and AJ with CJ and Smart to learn from, plus Coulibaly, Champagne, and Kispert played some 2 last year as well. I have no problem picking a guy like Maluach or Essengue if the team thinks they are the best for us.

Our front court is far thinner than that with only Sarr, Holmes, Kelly O, and maybe Vukevic as bigs though the team has had no problem playing Keyshawn George or one of our other 3s at the 4 and going small ball.

the other thing that is getting under appreciated here is timeline. We have to stay at or below 4th worst next year to keep our FRP.
After next year, that all changes. Hopefully they will have some draft capital stashed away. And our current kiddie corp
will have gained important experience. Next year will continue to be about player development and gathering whatever draft
capital we can gather.

[dobrojim]

Man, our veteran lineup actually makes pretty good sense on paper:

PG McCollum
SG Smart
SF Kispert
PF Middleton
C Olynyk

Don't get me wrong. I hope we don't see too many minutes from any of these guys, but it's kind of a shame to have so many decent veteran role players when contending teams could use them.

I get the argument that a few veteran mentors is good to help guide the youngsters, but we don't need 5 guys who can all still play (in limited minutes at least).

Flip them if/when the opportunity arises. Everything I own is for sale, for the right price.

[gambitx777]

If we don't do anything else. This is weird. If we then go and make a play to get more picks via what ever and we put some guys together and really make some moves ok. I get it.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I've been posting here so long I remember CCJ had been banging McCollum's drum like crazy around that draft. Well, we finally got him a decade later.

I've been posting here so long I remember CCJ had been banging McCollum's drum like crazy around that draft. Well, we finally got him a decade later.

Thanks, AFM. CCJ liked CJ early on.

https://www.tankathon.com/players/cj-mccollum

CJ McCollum produced numbers at Lehigh that were similar to Steph Curry's Davidson numbers. I remember seeing one of his games, and I was blown away. He was a near-unstoppable volume scorer and an extremely accurate three-point shooter. McCollum was drafted in the first round, 10th overall, in the 2013 draft.


https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2013.html

McCollum is the third best player (by VORP) from the 2013 draft.
CJ is behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo (15th pick) and Rudy Gobert (27th).

SO-CALLED EXPERTS SCREWED UP that draft. Terrible misses include:

#1 Anthony Bennett
#4 Cody Zeller
#5 Alex Len
#6 Nerlens Noel
#7 Ben Mclemore
#9 Trey Burke
#11 Michael Carter Williams
#14 Shabazz Muhammad

Another guy I liked a lot that draft, who many others didn't, has had a great career. KELLY OLYNYK (13th pick), 5th in VORP. Now, he, too is a Wizard. Good move.

Mason Plumlee (22nd pick), 4th in VORP, was the third-best steal behind Giannis, Rudy.

WizDynasty's guy, Steven Adams (12th pick), 7th in VORP, has not disappointed.

Lastly, Otto Porter was pick #3, and Victor Oladipo was #2. Both guys might be rated higher than CJ McCollum if not for injury. Oladipo almost for sure would.

Today's draft is going to be similar. A LOT OF EXPERTS WILL BE WRONG.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The Wizards added two of the absolute best veterans they could have added.

McCollum and Olynyk will model professionalism. Their shot making ability will be too good for the tank if played with Middleton.

[Gig18]

Just want to say, even though Poole was a dude who often seemed to play off-script and to the beat of a different drum ---- he was fun to watch. One of those guys who puts on a show. The kind of player that many throw rocks at because it feels like the show is more important than the game sometimes. But. He was really fun to watch last year...

[prime1time]

I've come around on the trade. Cap space is more valuable than ever with the 2nd apron being so harsh. It does seem like upper management has a plan which is more than can be said about previous regimes.

[willbcocks]

It seems like this is a recognition by the front office that keeping cap space to absorb bad contracts is more likely to acquire draft capital than signing and rehabbing undervalued players. I always doubted the signing and rehabbing strategy, mainly because I saw much higher downside if the players underperform or are injured, while the upside is similar. I'm glad they've moved this direction.

[Dark Faze]

On one hand these are extremely good vets, on the other hand if they are all healthy I'm a little concerned about what that does to our tanking effort lol.

To add to that we're gonna have a billion dollars in cap space available soon. Feels like there's going to be pressure to gun for wins sooner rather than later.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

On one hand these are extremely good vets, on the other hand if they are all healthy I'm a little concerned about what that does to our tanking effort lol.

To add to that we're gonna have a billion dollars in cap space available soon. Feels like there's going to be pressure to gun for wins sooner rather than later.

I think we are likely to see a lot of "injuries" this year. With the Suns now in the tank, the need for us to keep our first rounder next year is even more imperative. If we retain our pick, we essentially get extra lotto balls from the Suns. If we have no pick to swap, we essentially lose two teams worth of lottery odds.

So yes, I share your concern. I also have a lot of faith in company man Brian Keefe driving the tanks. He knows what's at stake.

[WizarDynasty]

McCollum has never been close to .50 percent shooting guy. Red flag for his 2 pt shooting percentage. He is fine for a few minutes a game shooting three but he has really bad knees and heavy injury history. He is 3 point shooting, non finishing defensive liability bench player on a playoff team.
If he can be restricted to a role similar to steve kerr coming off the bench, i am ok with it, but he isn't making anyone around him better because he is an inefficient scorer that gets injured when volume increases.

Olynk gets worse and worse as his volume increases.