Otto Porter says the Washington Wizards lied to him about his trade status.
Porter was dealt by the Wizards to the Chicago Bulls in a salary dump on Wednesday. Saturday’s game against his former team was his second with Chicago. Before the game, Porter said the Wizards told him he wouldn’t be traded, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz.
Otto Porter said the Wizards told him privately he would not be traded before the deadline. Owner Ted Leonsis said a week before the deadline on a radio hit that John Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter would not get traded.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) February 10, 2019
Just like Katz noted, team owner Ted Leonsis said a week before the deadline that the Wizards would not be tearing things down and trading their core of John Wall, Bradley Beal and Porter. But then Wall suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon that will take him out for a year. They decided to start changing up the roster after that and unloaded Porter.
We can understand the Wizards abruptly changing their stance after learning of Wall’s surgery, but it’s still a bad look to lead a player to believe one thing and do another.
