John Wall has been so good, he made himself right.
The Wizards’ starters have been awesome, and their bench has been about equally bad. With Washington surging to third in the East, and the fourth-place Raptors making their move with Serge Ibaka, this was no time to idle.
So, as Wall predicted, the Wizards traded for bench help: Bojan Bogdanovic and Chris McCullough from the Nets.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
Nets are sending Bogdanovic and Chris McCullough to the Wizards for Andrew Nicholson and a 2017 first-round pick, sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 22, 2017
Sources: Washington's Marcus Thornton joins Nicholson in the trade package to Brooklyn.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 22, 2017
Andrew Nicholson, with three years and $19,911,007 remaining after this season, had negative value. He was part of the reason the Wizards’ bench stunk. Likewise, Marcus Thornton provided little in reserve. A 29-year-old on an expiring minimum contract, he was likely included only so Washington didn’t exceed the roster maximum of 15 players.
Essentially the Wizards traded a first-round pick for Bogdanovic, McCullough and shedding Nicholson.
Bogdanovic will provide wing scoring for a reserve unit badly in need of juice. He has been an ineffective defender, but his 6-foot-8 frame offers a path to improvement on that end.
The 27-year-old will be a restricted free agent next summer. Assuming re-signing Otto Porter is the priority, keeping Bogdanovic could push Washington into the luxury tax -- likely a non-starter. This could win up just a rental, but there’s plenty of time to evaluate Bogdanovic’s (and everyone else’s) long-term fit.
The Nets drafted McCullough No. 29 in 2015 as a project, and he remains one. The 22-year-old has spent far more time in the D-League than the NBA this season. It’s unlikely he contributes this season, as lower as the bar is for the Wizards’ bench. He has two additional seasons left on his rookie-scale contract, time for Washington to figure out what it has.
Now, Brooklyn has a couple first-round picks this year -- the Celtics’ and the Wizards’. That doesn’t amount to much, but the Nets are so far from relevance, getting even younger is a wise path forward.
