Report: Trevor Ariza trade falls apart due to confusion over players with same last name

A Trevor Ariza to the Washington Wizards trade reportedly has fallen apart over confusion about which Brooks player the Phoenix Suns were receiving in the deal.

The Suns, Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies were all working on a 3-way trade involving five players. Here’s what the trade looked like:

– Wizards getting Trevor Ariza from Phoenix
– Grizzlies getting Kelly Oubre from Washington
– Suns getting Austin Rivers from Washington and two players from Memphis

The hangup has to do with the two players the Suns were getting from Memphis. One of the players was Wayne Selden. The other was “Brooks.” The problem is Memphis has two players with the same last name, and there was a confusion about whether MarShon Brooks or Dillon Brooks was in the deal.

Memphis thought they were trading MarShon Brooks, while the Suns only were going to make the trade if they were getting Dillon, according to information from Suns reporter John Gambadoro and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Woj says the deal is dead unless the Wizards and Suns make it directly or involve a different third team.

If you’re wondering how the confusion could have happened, it’s apparently because Washington was used as a conduit in the trade talks and Phoenix and Memphis never spoke directly.

Deal's suddenly in peril. Memphis and Phoenix didn't communicate directly on trade, using Washington as a conduit in coordinating the 3-team deal, sources tell @ZachLowe_NBA and me. Grizzlies believe they were trading MarShon, but somehow Suns believed it was Dillon.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 15, 2018

Who would have figured that Dillon Brooks would come between one of the biggest trades of the season?