Woj: Deni to Portland for 14th pick and Brogdon

[willbcocks]

As a strategic matter, I agree with trading deni. His value was high due a value contract that would be wasted as we rebuild. In fact I've agreed with the strategy behind all the winger/Dawkins moves.

It's just the execution. Again, it feels like we could have done so much better.

[FAH1223]

So Kuzma didn't get traded but Deni did. If anyone had suggested that as a possibility they would have been laughed at.

This is wild to me. WILD. Not in my wildest nightmare would I think they would have traded Deni for a broken down 30 year old and a couple of crappy first rounders.

Ernie would have traded Deni for an injured 35 year old and no picks.

And we have example of that

Let’s hope Bub Carrington becomes a good player.

It seems pretty clear that Kuzma isn’t netting a first round pick.

[Halcyon]

Deni was a decent player who after 4 years, finally put up some numbers on a 15 win team. I'm not too worked up about it to be honest.

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[MOSH]

LOL
I'm sorry, but this is an awful trade. I was hoping Deni stays and breaks out this year, but it's gone now.
I can only assume they thought they will be too good with Deni? They probably want the first pick next year?

Lots of Israeli fans are now moving to the west coast, so some fans here will be happy.

Is that really the best Washington could get? It's surprising OKC went to Caruso instead of Deni but I guess the rumors were true.

I don't think Deni asked to move, but he clearly wants to win and not tank, so perhaps the trade is out of respect.
Portland don't have much wing players so he should fit great.

I'm sorry for your loss guys, hopefully you'll do better in few years. I was lurking this board for 3 years and only just started writing here :/
This is a business, and there's no empathy.

[9 and 20]

Fine with trading him in general, but the return is some poop. I guess this now means Portland going to the finals next year??

[gambitx777]

I can not imagine people are coming that we got 4 picks 2 firsts and 2 seconds for deni. I loved him but he's not and all star, he averages 14 pt a game a per of 14 that good not great. He was not in the top 100 for drug or defensive win shares so yes he was a good defender but he wants great. He was an ok shooter but still very hesitant on O. I loved him really I didn't want to see him leave. But this was a solid deal and if we can parlay brogdon in to stuff then that's even better.

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[Rafael122]

I slept on this some more. From an emotional standpoint, it stings. Deni was home grown, was improving, had a very nice contract but as gambit said, he's not an all star and he probably never will be.

Setting the emotional attachment aside and being realistic, no team is trading a 2025 1st round pick right now. 2026 is probably going to be slightly a tier below the 2025 draft class. So now you're asking yourself, do we trade a 23 year old on a good contract for a pick 3 years down the line (or more) or do we get a pick NOW and then another first round pick in a few years. I'd rather not trade him at all, but it's difficult to turn down 2 legitimate first round picks and 2 second round picks. I say legitimate because it's not a BS "protected top 10 in '29, top 8 in '30, if pick doesn't convey, it turns into 2 seconds." It's a legit 2029 pick, second most favorable meaning Portland has Boston and Milwaukee's FRP in 2029. Whoever is second worse out of those teams, that's the pick we get. 5 years is a long time. Tatum will be 31, Brown will be 32, Jrue is probably retired. White and KP will be 33/34 years old. Bucks situation might get real ugly in a couple of years too. You just never know.

Lastly, this is all about Bilal. I looked at the depth chart last night, and I said "hm, it's gonna be tough to get Bilal minutes." I had the mindset that it was Kuzma that will be shipped out, not Deni. But this clears the runway for Bilal to get the starting 3 spot and go from there.

[Rafael122]

I slept on this some more. From an emotional standpoint, it stings. Deni was home grown, was improving, had a very nice contract but as gambit said, he's not an all star and he probably never will be.

Setting the emotional attachment aside and being realistic, no team is trading a 2025 1st round pick right now. 2026 is probably going to be slightly a tier below the 2025 draft class. So now you're asking yourself, do we trade a 23 year old on a good contract for a pick 3 years down the line (or more) or do we get a pick NOW and then another first round pick in a few years. I'd rather not trade him at all, but it's difficult to turn down 2 legitimate first round picks and 2 second round picks. I say legitimate because it's not a BS "protected top 10 in '29, top 8 in '30, if pick doesn't convey, it turns into 2 seconds." It's a legit 2029 pick, second most favorable meaning Portland has Boston and Milwaukee's FRP in 2029. Whoever is second worse out of those teams, that's the pick we get. 5 years is a long time. Tatum will be 31, Brown will be 32, Jrue is probably retired. White and KP will be 33/34 years old. Bucks situation might get real ugly in a couple of years too. You just never know.

Lastly, this is all about Bilal. I looked at the depth chart last night, and I said "hm, it's gonna be tough to get Bilal minutes." I had the mindset that it was Kuzma that will be shipped out, not Deni. But this clears the runway for Bilal to get the starting 3 spot and go from there.

Apparently it's second most favorable between Portland, Dallas and Milwaukee. So this might be a lottery pick, no worse than a mid-round pick.

[NatP4]

I’ll let you know in about 5 years.

[Dark Faze]

I can not imagine people are coming that we got 4 picks 2 firsts and 2 seconds for deni. I loved him but he's not and all star, he averages 14 pt a game a per of 14 that good not great. He was not in the top 100 for drug or defensive win shares so yes he was a good defender but he wants great. He was an ok shooter but still very hesitant on O. I loved him really I didn't want to see him leave. But this was a solid deal and if we can parlay brogdon in to stuff then that's even better.

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The problem is Deni raised his ceiling with his play this year. He finally started to drive and developed a 3pt shot. It significantly raises his potential as a prospect and he's only 23.

It's literally a bird in hand vs two in the bush scenario. I would rate Deni's current potential to be better than the majority of the top 10 picks in this draft. If he were to continue to improve, the value we could have gotten back in a trade down the road could stand to be greater than we got today.

[LyricalRico]

For everyone complaining "they didn't trade Kuz"...I was able to confirm that the NBA does in fact still allow trades after the draft lol. The offseason is still young, let's see how things play out.

[Wizardspride]

So Kuzma didn't get traded but Deni did. If anyone had suggested that as a possibility they would have been laughed at.

This is wild to me. WILD. Not in my wildest nightmare would I think they would have traded Deni for a broken down 30 year old and a couple of crappy first rounders.

Ernie would have traded Deni for an injured 35 year old and no picks.

And we have example of that

Let’s hope Bub Carrington becomes a good player.

It seems pretty clear that Kuzma isn’t netting a first round pick

I dont think that's clear at all.

From various reports, the FO wanted TWO first round picks for Kyle.

[badinage]

We don’t know if ANY of these Dawkins picks will be better in three years than Deni was last year.

Bilal has gifts, but still isn’t a player. Sarr is a shot in the dark. Bub has major holes. Vuk looks good, but D is not there. Kyshawn George might not even see the rotation for three years.

Deni is the same age as Knecht, who just got drafted 17 — off of potential.

Deni would’ve been the first pick in this draft.

[MDStar]

To me this trade was all about a commitment to Bilal and his development/growth. For as much as I loved Deni’s progress, and his contract, we’ve pretty much all agreed that the Wizards lacked top end talent and won’t be good until we acquire some. Deni, at his best, will probably be a good #3 on a contending team. With the teams perceived commitment (we could argue whether they should be) to Kuzma and now with Sarr coming in, added to Bilal, I could see a scenario where management wanted to expand the talent pool into backcourt options. From that perspective, flipping Deni for Bub (a young, talented, albeit flawed prospect), a $22M expiring contract, + another 1st and 2 2nds, makes a decent amount of sense.

Also, for everyone complaining about the 2029 pick, but at the same time lauding the Nets package for Bridges, I find it interesting. In that deal, the Nets also got a 2029 pick and a 2031 pick, so are we dismissing that value as well. The Nets also didn’t get an expiring contract, so they’re essentially stuck with Bojan Bogdonavic.

So to me, if Bub (at 18/19 years old) comes in and is playable at all (unlike Johnny Davis), at a position of need, I think we’ll look back on this deal as fair but also favorable for the Wizards.

[The-Power]

How is trading Deni a comittment to a true rebuild when Jordan Poole, Kuzma, and Brogden are on the roster?

You trade the players that have value and positively impact winning. You don't mind keeping those who don't. I'm sure they are shopping the other vets as well, though.

[wewillnevertank]

My gut reaction was that this was an awful move. We didn't suffer through three years of growing pains just to trade Deni after a breakout year. But if you think about the long-term timeline, this definitely makes sense. This team probably isn't going to be relevant until after Deni's contract anyway, and by then we'll need to have enough room to lock in what will hopefully end up being our core (Sarr, Bilal, Carrington and either Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper or Nolan Traore).

Also, my guess is we're not done dealing yet. I imagine Brogdon will be flipped. Reports suggest Sacramento is still interested in Kuz. Tyus will likely be back on a team-friendly deal that will garner interest before February. And Poole began rehabbing his trade value toward the end of the season, so a team looking for a bench sparkplug could still want him, albeit on a buy-low.

[j_n]

Sorry but I hate this trade for you guys, since about mid way last year he was playing like a near star, he still has a lot of room to improve but isn't good enough to ruin a tank yet.

When you consider that he's a terrific defender, great teammate and locked into a huge bargain and I don't understand why you would want to trade him unless you were offered a Mikal bridges type deal.

I was following the wizards because of Deni and was actually excited to see how they would look next year with Sarr and hopefully without Poole and Kuzma.

Don't even like the fit for Deni with the Blazers next to Scoot.

[Kanyewest]

I haven't felt this bad about a move since they resigned Beal to the supermax with a no trade clause.

For me it was the KP trade. I was expecting more.

For some reason I was thinking that a Deni trade would be advantageous to him if he were on a contender but Portland also seems to be rebuilding although they are clearly further along than the Wizards and perhaps we'll see Deni in the playoffs in a couple of years or sooner if he gets moved again.

[The Consiglieri]

So Kuzma didn't get traded but Deni did. If anyone had suggested that as a possibility they would have been laughed at.

I did and was predicting the possibility this past spring but I expected a significantly better return, and the trade to happen between ‘25-‘26 if it happened.

[dobrojim]

I slept on this some more. From an emotional standpoint, it stings. Deni was home grown, was improving, had a very nice contract but as gambit said, he's not an all star and he probably never will be.

Setting the emotional attachment aside and being realistic, no team is trading a 2025 1st round pick right now. 2026 is probably going to be slightly a tier below the 2025 draft class. So now you're asking yourself, do we trade a 23 year old on a good contract for a pick 3 years down the line (or more) or do we get a pick NOW and then another first round pick in a few years. I'd rather not trade him at all, but it's difficult to turn down 2 legitimate first round picks and 2 second round picks. I say legitimate because it's not a BS "protected top 10 in '29, top 8 in '30, if pick doesn't convey, it turns into 2 seconds." It's a legit 2029 pick, second most favorable meaning Portland has Boston and Milwaukee's FRP in 2029. Whoever is second worse out of those teams, that's the pick we get. 5 years is a long time. Tatum will be 31, Brown will be 32, Jrue is probably retired. White and KP will be 33/34 years old. Bucks situation might get real ugly in a couple of years too. You just never know.

Lastly, this is all about Bilal. I looked at the depth chart last night, and I said "hm, it's gonna be tough to get Bilal minutes." I had the mindset that it was Kuzma that will be shipped out, not Deni. But this clears the runway for Bilal to get the starting 3 spot and go from there.

Apparently it's second most favorable between Portland, Dallas and Milwaukee. So this might be a lottery pick, no worse than a mid-round pick.

So I wonder if that means POR can't trade any of the '29 1sts? How does that work?