Wizards To Acquire Marcin Gortat From Suns

[Davis_Mike]

Wizards To Acquire Marcin Gortat From Suns

October 25 at 5:23pm CDT By Luke Adams
5:23pm: TNT’s David Aldridge’s tweets more about the protections related to the first-round pick the Wizards are sending to Phoenix: If it falls inside the top 12 for 2014, it’ll be top-10 protected from 2015 through 2019, and unprotected after that.

4:24pm: The Wizards will acquire Marcin Gortat from the Suns, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (via Twitter). Stein reports that Emeka Okafor will head to Phoenix in the deal, while Shannon Brown and Kendall Marshall will join Gortat en route to Washington (Twitter link).

Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com fills in a couple more details, tweeting that the Suns will acquire a protected 2014 first-rounder, while Malcolm Lee will also head to Washington. According to Goodman (via Twitter), the first-round pick acquired by Phoenix will be top-12 protected in ’14. The Suns now hold the Pacers’, Wolves’, and Wizards’ first-round picks, in addition to their own.

For the Wizards, the move will provide more scoring punch in the frontcourt, not to mention a healthier center — Okafor is out indefinitely with a herniated disc, whereas Gortat can be plugged into the lineup immediately. Brown, Marshall and Lee appear to be salary throw-ins, as Michael Lee of the Washington Post tweets that they aren’t expected to stick in Washington.

By reaching an agreement before the season begins, the Wizards will be able to complete the four-for-one trade without waiving three players already on their roster. Once Washington finalizes the deal, it will have 18 players on guaranteed contracts, three of which will need to be dropped before opening night, and it looks like the three extra players in this swap are the prime candidates.

All five players involved in the trade are essentially on expiring contracts. Only Marshall has years on his deal beyond 2013/14, but the final two years on his contract are team options, which the Wizards could decline if they so choose.

For the Suns, the deal clears up their roster logjam. Phoenix had 17 players with full or partial guarantees, but now will be carrying just 14 players, giving the club the option of adding another free agent.

The salaries going in both directions nearly match up exactly, so neither team gains a significant amount of cap relief in the deal, but the Wizards should save about $370K in the move. Considering the team had less than $1MM in breathing room before hitting the tax line, that extra flexibility could come in handy by season’s end. Washington also should create a small trade exception in the transaction which, by my calculations, will be worth about $1.25MM.

In my opinion, this is a good deal for the Suns. They cleared some roster space that they needed to & got another 1st round pick. If Okefor can contribute at any point in the season, it is a bonus. If Okefor is hurt all season, That might be even better, more time to develop Len & Plumlee. And in there is a decent possibility that Gortat can help get Was to at least the 13 worst team in the league in 2013-14 & we get their 1st round pick for the next draft.

 

[Orange602]

Damn, another 1st round pick? The tanking is underway!

It's a protected pick, but, as Davis_Mike said, Gortat can possibly make the Wizards good enough to miss the top 12 picks.

 

[Orange602]

I did think that the Suns would hold on to Gortat a bit longer, though.

 

[Davis_Mike]

Even if the Suns don't get the pick in the 2014 draft, they could get it in the 2015 draft. 2015-19 it is only a top 10 protected pick. I am not sure which is better, 4 picks on 2014 or 3 picks in 2014 & 2 in 2015? Having 4 picks in 2014 does open the door to all sorts of draft day trade scenarios.

 

[Orange602]

I'm not sure what the 2015 draft will look like.

 

[Orange602]

Honestly, the Wizards should be able to make the playoffs in the East with their roster. The Suns will probably end up with a pick in the 16-20 range.

 

[JahiiCarson_SqodGeneral]

Our GM knows what hes doing. No news on Bledsoe yet?

 

[Davis_Mike]

Our GM knows what hes doing. No news on Bledsoe yet?

There are rumblings & grumblings that a deal is being worked right now. The Suns have till Halloween to get s new contract done. I assume that a deal will be reached before our opening game.

 

[JahiiCarson_SqodGeneral]

There are rumblings & grumblings that a deal is being worked right now. The Suns have till Halloween to get s new contract done. I assume that a deal will be reached before our opening game.

Okay im thinking 8 million or less 9 million a year being a stretch for Bledsoe because I have really liked him in the pre season games. Okeafor is better for the younger guys too. We dont need Gortat who speaks his mind to the media, Okeafor is a much more liked Veteran. Where guys like Bledsoe and Goodwin will have more fun around and build more team chemistry. Okeafor is a better locker room guy. Good trade.

 

[Davis_Mike]

Derp. I forgot that Suns own the Lakers 2015 1st rounder as well.

 

[Davis_Mike]

And here is this, for what it's worth.

Goran Dragic Next In Line To Leave Suns?

October 25 at 6:12pm CDT By Chuck Myron
There is a “growing expectation” around the league that the Suns will at some point try to trade Goran Dragic in a deal similar to this afternoon’s Marcin Gortat swap, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes in his report on today’s deal. The Suns remain in talks with point guard Eric Bledsoe about a rookie-scale extension, and Dragic plays the same position. The Suns have expressed optimism that Bledsoe and Dragic can coexist as backcourt partners, but that might be more a stopgap solution than a long-term plan.

Dragic, 27, is entering the second season of a four-year deal that pays him $7.5MM annually and includes a player option for 2015/16. Phoenix may be loath to commit that kind of money long-term to a player who shares a position with one of its young building blocks. The Suns might be more inclined to keep Dragic around if they can’t reach a deal on an extension for Bledsoe by the October 31st deadline, but the Suns ultimately wield the hammer with Bledsoe, since they could match offers for him if he becomes a restricted free agent next summer.

The notion that the Suns may look to do a deal similar to the Gortat trade suggests GM Ryan McDonough will again look for a first-round pick, as he did today when he secured the Wizards’ 2014 first-rounder and this summer when he acquired the same bounty from Indiana for Luis Scola. The Suns have their own 2014 first-round pick, and they could wind up with the 2014 first-rounders of the T-Wolves, Pacers and Wizards, depending on how protection on each of those draft choices plays out. McDonough might want to fortify his picks for 2015 and beyond, drafts for which the only pick the Suns are owed is the Lakers’ 2015 first-rounder.

This would make sense if it were to happen. That would open up the SG spot for either Goodwin or Green to start. It would leave the team short on PG(s) with only smith left to backup Bledsoe. This would give the Suns assets for the future as well as more cap flexibility over the next 3-4 years to bring in a stud FA.

 

[mikesphxsuns]

WAIT...WAIT WAIT...did someone up there say "another first round pic" what the FCUK is wrong with your ...SERIOUSLY!!! who complains that we now have 4.....4.....4 first round pics!! we have more assets on my team right now than OKC did before they blew up with ...oh someone named Durant...someone named Westbrook...you are a lame fan...thanks for playin

to everyone else..i couldnt be more ecstatic right now!!! i knew he would go ..who knew we could get a decent player AND another first rounder..unbelievable!! our GM is on point and i could see us being a title contender as early as next year..book it

GO SUNS!!!

 

[Orange602]

I don't want to see Dragic go. I think that he can be a cornerstone for the rebuilding project.

 

[JahiiCarson_SqodGeneral]

Same Dragics contract will always be cheap and he will show loyalty to us. You get Bledsoe whos 8 million a year (I think) locked up for 4-5 years. With Dragic 3 years 7.5 million a year left that is a cheap and efficient back court. If Dragic were to get traded again. He would never forgive us.




Nash wasn't good until 30. Keep that in mind.

 

[JahiiCarson_SqodGeneral]

We also want Goodwin to develop into a 6th man. We want him to be like a Manu and destroy other teams benches. Hes still like 3-4 years away from developing into a star. He needs so much practice and his body as to fill out, quicker hands, etc.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

this trade also improves our chances in the Wiggins sweepstakes. I'll miss Marcin sorta but it'll be worth it. 4 first rounders next year? *drools*

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Glad we got rid of Brown and Marshall too.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

ESPN grades on the trade:

Washington: B-

Playoffs or bust. That's the signal Ernie Grunfeld sent with this deal, indicating the Wizards couldn't wait around for Okafor to get healthy and needed Gortat as part of their lineup to chase one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. While Washington hasn't really substantially raised its ceiling this season -- at best, we're probably looking at the Wizards taking a couple of games off one of the top seeds in the East -- there's value in making the playoffs for a team on the rise, especially one with the potential to open up a decent chunk of cap space (about $12.8 million, based on my projections).



Phoenix: A

All hail the kings of the 2014 draft. Already, when I projected how much value teams would get from future picks over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, the Suns were far ahead of the rest of the league. GM Ryan McDonough has only enhanced that position by adding what could potentially be their fourth first-round pick next June (including a lottery-protected pick from Indiana and a top-13 protected pick from Minnesota) to go along with two more in 2015.

A Gortat trade was not just a likelihood but an inevitability; last month I called him the most likely player in the league to be traded. Entering the final season of his contract, the 29-year-old center did not fit Phoenix's future plans, meaning the Suns had to cash in on his value to a team looking to win now. I figured that might happen closer to the deadline, but Washington's desperation to replace the injured Okafor meant they wanted him right now.

Fine by the Suns. While they give up the outside chance a bidding war among contenders might have pushed up Gortat's value by the deadline, there are many plusses to making this trade now. It gives them a far more valuable pick than they would have gotten from a certain playoff team, with the upside of potentially being in the late lottery (it's top-12 protected this year, then top-10 thereafter, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic). Simulation shows Washington's pick most likely to be 15th or 16th, just outside the lottery.

The deal also conveniently makes Phoenix a weaker team. Okafor's return from a herniated disc in his neck is uncertain, and the Suns certainly won't be in any hurry to put him back on the floor. Until, that is, they have the chance to showcase him before the trade deadline. Since a healthy Okafor is still capable of starting, there's an outside chance Phoenix could flip him again for other expiring contracts and lesser picks.

SCHOENE now projects the Suns winning just 17.2 games, the league's lowest mark. In practice, the Philadelphia 76ers still lead the race to the bottom of the standings, but Phoenix isn't far behind. If the No. 1 overall pick is one of the four they will make next June, the Suns' rebuilding process may not be far from starting to turn around.

 

[Orange602]

SCHOENE now projects the Suns winning just 17.2 games, the league's lowest mark.

Wonderful.

 

[JahiiCarson_SqodGeneral]

Another guy I like is Terrance Ross but I dont think the Raptors will give him up to much promise and upside.