Brooks who? Turns out Phoenix and Washington didn’t need a third team involved to get a trade done.
Phoenix gets a point guard, and the Wizards get a veteran presence in a trade that is straight up between the two: Trevor Ariza heads to Washington while Austin Rivers, Kelly Oubre are going to Phoenix, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Athletic and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Sources: Phoenix is trading Trevor Ariza to Washington for Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 15, 2018
Phoenix has agreed to a deal to send Trevor Ariza to Washington, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 15, 2018
No picks involved. Deal done. Trevor Ariza is a Wizard; Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers are Suns. https://t.co/HkFFqoOWYx
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 15, 2018
The struggling Wizards get a veteran presence in their locker room — something the team where players don’t like each other and it shows on the court could use. Not that one move solves all those problems. Plus, Ariza brings a solid wing defensive and three-point shooting presence (36 percent) to the team (although he has struggled this season inside the arc). That said, there was a lot of trade value in Oubre and to get one player and no picks back in this trade — they would have gotten second rounders in the blown up Friday night deal — feels like the Wizards sold short. Washington also saves about $1.5 million in salary and luxury tax, but they need to add a 14th player to the roster in the next two weeks and even at the minimum that will eat into some of those savings.
Phoenix has desperately needed a point guard and now they got a rotation level one in Rivers, which is an upgrade for this team (whatever you think of Rivers). Plus the young Kelly Oubre fits better on the Suns’ timeline — with Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and the rest — than the veteran Ariza, but the Suns are already deep on the wing. Oubre will be a restricted free agent next summer, by then the Suns should have a sense about him and if they want to keep him.
