Nick Wass/Associated Press
The Washington Wizards have been busy leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline, but they reportedly have no interest in moving their top trade chip.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Washington has “no plans” to trade Bradley Beal even after shipping Otto Porter Jr. and Markieff Morris away to get under the luxury-tax threshold.
On Wednesday, Washington agreed to trade Morris and a 2023 second-round pick to the New Orleans Pelicans for Wesley Johnson, according to David Aldridge of The Athletic. They also agreed to trade Porter to the Chicago Bulls for Bobby Portis, Jabari Parker and a 2023 second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Wizards made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, but at 22-23, they are four games behind the Miami Heat for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference this year. Their defense was missing in action during Wednesday’s 148-129 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, and they look nothing like a playoff team after these two trades.
John Wall, who was already out for the season with a heel injury, recently ruptured his Achilles in his home, which will sideline him for the next 12 months.
The hapless Wizards have an incentive to lose more games and improve their odds for the draft lottery. Tankathon gives them a 29.4 percent chance of securing a top-four selection and a 6.8 percent chance at the No. 1 pick, which they could use on Duke’s Zion Williamson.
While trading Beal would be an ideal way to further tank and bolster those draft odds, he is also under contract through the 2020-21 season and could anchor a postseason run in future years.
Beal is averaging a career-high 24.8 points, 5.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds per night this season, but he apparently won’t be putting up similar numbers on a contender down the stretch given Washington’s desire to keep him past the trade deadline.
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