According to a recently proposed trade idea involving two rebuilding teams, the Washington Wizards could improve their frontcourt by sending four players and their first-round choice in Wednesday’s NBA Draft to the Oklahoma City Thunder for center Steven Adams.
On Tuesday, Bleacher Report outlined the hypothetical deal, noting that Adams will likely be the next Thunder veteran — following point guards Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder — to get shipped elsewhere as general manager Sam Presti continues accumulating draft picks. The publication added that Adams is a player who Washington “should be interested” in, considering how his rebounding and defense addresses two of the organization’s biggest needs heading into the 2020-21 season.
As suggested by the outlet, the Wizards could land Adams and the Thunder’s No. 25 selection in this year’s draft by trading center Thomas Bryant, guards Ish Smith and Jerome Robinson, wingman Troy Brown Jr., and their ninth overall choice. Such a move, the site noted, could give Washington a good chance of making the Eastern Conference playoffs next year, assuming the club is able to hang on to superstar shooting guard Bradley Beal and re-sign sharpshooting forward Davis Bertans.
Although Adams’ stats took a slight hit in most areas in 2019-20, he remained a key contributor for the Thunder, averaging 10.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game and shooting 59.2 percent from the field, per Basketball-Reference . The 27-year-old also started in all of the 63 regular-season games he suited up for in the recently concluded campaign.
As for Oklahoma City, Bleacher Report wrote that the transaction, if it pushes forward, would give the team another “franchise building block,” as it can potentially use the No. 9 choice on a player such as USC big man Onyeka Okongwu or Devin Vassell or Patrick Williams, who both manned the wing positions at Florida State. The outlet added that Bryant, Robinson, and Brown are all young enough and have enough potential to get meaningful minutes as the Thunder push forward with their rebuilding initiative.
The proposed deal that would send Adams to the Wizards is not the only one that has recently been recommended for the New Zealand native. As reported by The Inquisitr , it was suggested this week that Adams could be moved to the Boston Celtics in a three-team transaction that would also involve the Los Angeles Clippers. Per the terms of the trade, Oklahoma City would theoretically get several players, including erstwhile Clippers starters Ivica Zubac and Patrick Beverley, while Los Angeles would end up with Celtics mainstays Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis and Thunder shooting guard Luguentz Dort.
