Well folks, the NBA Offseason is in full swing. It was only a matter of time until we saw the first trade of the summer following the draft. The Wizards broke the ice and traded Center Marcin Gortat for Guard Austin Rivers. As it stands right now, I do not believe either player will be bought out of their contracts from their new teams.
Before we get into reasoning behind the trade, lets look into the contracts:
Both Rivers’ and Gortat’s contracts are up after next season (2018-2019)
Gortat 2018-2019 Cap Hit- $13,565,218
Rivers 2018-2019 Cap Hit- $12,650,000
The Clippers Reasoning
Again, both players are expiring contracts after next season and this trade allows both teams to fill needs. For the Clippers, they just drafted two guards in Jerome Robinson and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Austin Rivers is a combo guard and would’ve taken valuable minutes from the rookies. It is also a clear sign the Clippers are looking to move Center Deandre Jordan, and Gortat fills a short term need at Center until they find their future starter.
By the way, this is all too ironic because it wasn’t long ago Jordan verbally agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks until Blake Griffin and Chris Paul locked him inside his own house begging him to re-sign. Now in 2018, Jordan is the only remaining starter. Life comes at you fast..
The Wizards Reasoning
From a basketball standpoint, this deal makes a lot of sense for Washington. The Wizards don’t have the luxury to wait around for their starting Center to show up. This move has to be a precursor for more transactions this summer, because I can’t see them rolling with Ian Mahinmi this season as their starter. The Wizards are still around $1 mil over the cap limit, so at this time they only have a little over $5,200,000 to spend to seek out a starter or depth in free agency. In other words, they will probably have to make a trade to find their new Center.
Here is the Wizards Roster as of June 27, 2018:
*=New Acquisitions
PG- Wall/ Satoransky/ *Rivers
SG- Beal/ *Rivers/ *Brown
SF- Porter/ Oubre/ *Brown
PF- Morris/ Smith/ Robinson
C- Mahinmi/ Smith
The Wizards have upgraded their bench scoring dramatically with Rivers who averaged a career high 15 ppg in 2017-2018. This is something the team has lacked almost all throughout John Wall’s career. With Rivers, Satoransky, Oubre, and 1st round pick Troy Brown, the bench unit looks much improved. For Rivers, this is an opportunity to prove himself in a contract year. If he wants to get paid he will need to prove he can handle the 6th man role for an entire season. He is most likely not in Washington’s long term plans, but this was a good move that addressed a problem.
All the metrics say Rivers is a “terrible” basketball player, right? Alright stat nerds, put those numbers away. He is a guy that can handle, shoot (37% 3pt shooter) and create in bunches. Wizards fans have been complaining about a guy like that off the bench forever. Those guys usually don’t have good efficiency numbers. They have one job. Rivers should hone that role pretty well.
The front court remains the biggest weakness on the team. I will get into potential moves with a post before free agency opens up July 1st, but the three names constantly linked as the Gortat replacement through free agency are; Dwight Howard, Nerlens Noel, and Demarcus Cousins. Again, pretty much anyone they bring in will be from a sign and trade deal because of the lack of cap space.
Trade Grade: A-
I believe trading Gortat was long overdue. Other than the fact that his athleticism has deteriorated over the last 4 seasons, he has continuously stirred the pot in the locker room with backhanded comments about his teammates and Wall, specifically. He was very serviceable the first few seasons with DC, but the game has changed.
Not giving up key pieces such as a 1st round pick, Kelly Oubre, and Tomas Satoransky is a huge win for the Wizards. 6 months ago people felt it would be impossible to swap Gortat for a player straight up, and they found the perfect suitor. Is Rivers going to save the Franchise from mediocrity? Probably not, but this move allows the Wiz flexibility to use the pieces on their roster to get some help in the front court, maybe even a star.
Side note…Austin Rivers had one of the best High School Hoopmixtapes of all time..
DC Sports Experience 