NBA Rumors: Wizards Could Trade Marcin Gortat, Kelly Oubre, Jason Smith, & Draft Pick For DeAndre Jordan

Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan is currently the hottest trade candidate in the ongoing 2017-18 NBA season. With the Clippers projected to suffer another disappointment, Jordan is expected to be traded for assets that could help them speed up the rebuilding process. Should the Washington Wizards consider trading for the All-Star center?

According to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, four NBA teams have shown the most interest in trading for DeAndre Jordan. These include the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Washington Wizards. Of the four teams, the Wizards proved to be the most exciting trade destination for Jordan.

With the emergence of John Wall and Bradley Beal, there is no doubt that the Wizards will make noise in the 2018 Eastern Conference Playoffs. However, they obviously need to add another superstar if they want to beat powerhouse teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers in a best-of-seven series. The potential acquisition of DeAndre Jordan will tremendously improve the Wizards on both ends of the floor.

Despite his free-throw issues, Jordan will give the Wizards a monster rebounder and a quality rim protector. Nekias Duncan of Fanrag Sports Network believes the combination of Jordan, Wall, Beal, and Otto Porter Jr. will be a huge problem for any opposing team.

“If you thought a John Wall-Marcin Gortat pick-and-roll was hard to defend, a Wall-Jordan pick-and-roll should provoke nightmares. Giving the Wizards that kind of a vertical threat with Wall, in addition to the spacing Bradley Beal and Otto Porter provide, would be unfair.”

However, in order to acquire him from the Los Angeles Clippers, the Wizards should be willing to give up valuable trade assets. Although DeAndre Jordan could become an unrestricted free agent next summer, the Clippers remain hopeful that they could get a good return. As Duncan noted, sacrificing a promising player like Kelly Oubre Jr. and a future first-round pick is the only thing the Wizards can do to convince the Clippers to send Jordan to Washington.

According to Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report, the Wizards could send Marcin Gortat, Kelly Oubre Jr., Jason Smith, and a 2018 lottery-protected first-round pick to the Clippers in exchange for DeAndre Jordan. The deal works on ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine. Before the 2017-18 NBA season started, Zach Lowe of ESPN already predicted the Jordan-to-Washington trade happening before the February 8 deadline. Lowe believes it’s already time for the Wizards to build the Lob City in the East.