The Washington Wizards are reportedly looking to trade Marcin Gortat before the NBA Draft, but they may not be willing to give up the necessary assets to unload the big man.
According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, the Wizards are “actively exploring” trade possibilities for Gortat, but they are unwilling to give up the No. 15 overall pick in the draft as part of a potential deal. That is apparently an issue for teams.
The Wizards are actively exploring their trade options with Marcin Gortat, but league sources say Washington is thus far resistant to the idea of surrendering its No. 15 overall pick tonight just to dump Gortat’s contract, which has one season left.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 21, 2018
The teams that can comfortably absorb Gortat in a trade tonight are Dallas (cap space) and Portland (trade exception) but the list obviously broadens if the Wizards were to reach a verbal agreement on a trade with a team that has the requisite cap space to absorb Gortat in July https://t.co/1YOznWIwaG
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 21, 2018
Gortat, 34, has one year and $13.5 million remaining on his contract. He appeared in all 82 games for Washington last season and averaged 8.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, but teams may not want to pay that much for an aging big man.
The Wizards would probably be fine with keeping Gortat, but their have been indications that he is not getting along with John Wall. That’s probably part — if not most — of the reason both he and the team are open to parting ways.
