They say no contract is untradeable in the NBA and the Washington Wizards have certainly proven that in the last 12 months.
In December, the Wizards moved franchise star John Wall for former Most Valuable Player Russell Westbrook in the transaction of a pair of the league's most discussed contracts.
A sometimes disappointing, sometimes entertaining and sometimes frustrating season later, Westbrook is now with the Los Angeles Lakers as the Wizards opt to head in an entirely different direction.
Hitting the trade table
Westbrook was his usual stat-stuffing self in 2021, averaging 22.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 11.7 assists, making it the fourth time in five seasons he has averaged a triple-double. The two-pronged attack of Westbrook and Beal helped Washington to the first round of the postseason, where the Philadelphia 76ers handled them in five games.
The Westbrook trade netted the Wizards a bunch of role players, with Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope heading to Washington along with the No. 22 pick in the draft. The Wizards then promptly moved that draft selection to acquire Indiana Pacers guard Aaron Holiday while moved down nine slots to pick No. 31.
Not yet done making moves, the Wizards got creative, acquiring Spencer Dinwiddie via sign-and-trade.
The Wizards parted ways with Chandler Hutchison and three second-round draft picks in the transaction with the Brooklyn Nets and San Antonio Spurs.
Dinwiddie now teams up with Holiday in the new look point guard rotation.
The Beal pressure factor
The Wizards are on the clock and they know it.
The rumours circling Bradley Beal's future with the franchise have been rampant for the best part of the last two seasons. An All-Star in three of the last four years, the Wizards have reached the postseason twice in that span, eliminated in the first round both times.
Beal has one year left on his current deal, with a $37 million player option for 2022-23 according to Spotrac.
An All-NBA Third Team selection in 2021, Beal is the only player on the Wizards roster at that level. As far as contending teams go, the Wizards have transitioned from a two-star team to a lone-star team, but can they improve from a season ago?
Dinwiddie, Kuzma and Beal are projected to start alongside the returning Thomas Bryant and rising Rui Hachimura. Both Dinwiddie and Bryant are returning from ACL injuries, which leaves a significant question mark over what they can immediately produce. But on paper, the starting group looks promising.
Whether or not it's enough to attract Beal long term remains to be seen.
Bolstered depth
The second unit is where the Wizards depth shows out, with Holiday, Caldwell-Pope and Harrell joining Davis Bertans, Deni Avdija, Raul Neto and Daniel Gafford. If healthy, the Wizards have 12 genuine rotation players, and that's before you include draftees Corey Kispert and Isaiah Todd.
Kispert in particular looks like he will be in a battle for minutes, with his scoring and shooting ability on display at the Las Vegas Summer League last month.
| Player | Games Played 2020-21 | Minutes Per Game |
| Kyle Kuzma | 68 | 28.7 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | 67 | 28.4 |
| Montrezl Harrell | 69 | 22.9 |
| Aaron Holiday | 66 | 17.8 |
Despite lacking the true top-end talent of contenders such as the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets, you could make a case that the Wizards are one of the deepest teams in the conference.
The above mentioned players can all score, that's known, but if they can become impact players on the defensive end of the floor the Wizards stand to benefit in a big way.
Ranked 29th for defensive efficiency in 2020 (114.7) and 20th in 2021 (112.3), the addition of Caldwell-Pope in particular will give them an option for defensive assignments on the perimeter they have lacked in recent seasons.
As for the players they lost: Robin Lopez is a valuable big man who will not be required if Bryant makes a successful return, Ish Smith and Alex Len are journeymen veterans, and Isaac Bonga and Chandler Hutchison are young players that were in and out of the rotation. Of course, Westbrook is a loss, but the sum of all parts could leave the Wizards in a better position across the course of an 82-game season.
Can they reach the postseason?
Let's assume that Milwaukee, Brooklyn, the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers are playoff locks.
That leaves four positions in the first round, with the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls expected to battle in the race to the playoffs.
At this point, only the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic appear destined for the lottery.
The Wizards figure to be competitive but the postseason is far from a certainty. Transition is a word that comes to mind when you think of the Wizards, which might not be ideal with Beal still searching that long postseason run in Year 10 with the franchise.
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