This was undoubtedly the most surprising transfer of the “trade deadline”. That the Wizards make moves, it was not surprising as the season was disappointing, but that the Mavericks let go of Kristaps Porzingis against Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans, it is already more difficult to understand.
On paper, having the Latvian interior is always a good idea, except that the former All-Star remains very fragile physically. It’s a risk, but Tommy Sheppard, the GM of the Wizards, was not afraid to take it.
“I can’t repeat it enough: you shouldn’t be afraid to make big changes when an opportunity arises, during free agency or during the transfer period, especially during the deadline”explains the manager to The Athletic. “Some things come your way. Jerry West told me, when I took this job, never to be afraid to make a hit. There are only a limited number of opportunities to have talents and for that, you must also let go of talents. “
But not all the talents since if the Wizards also sent Montrezl Harrell to Charlotte, they kept young people like Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant, Deni Avdija, Daniel Gafford and of course Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
“We are not letting go of our capital for the Draft, nor our young players”warns the GM. “As soon as we learned that Bradley Beal would not be returning this season, we decided not to make certain big transfers. We could have made some big trades on Thursday. With these, I can guarantee you that we would have finished the season better, but it will have cost us for the future. “
A Porzingis–Beal ticket for years to come
The future is therefore Porzingis. But the latter has only played 2/3 of the matches since his arrival in Dallas and despite his qualities, his absences weigh on his record. Hit in the right knee, he has not played for two weeks. When are his big debuts in the capital planned?
“He told me he was ready to play,” assures Tommy Sheppard. “We’re thinking about the future with him, so we’re not going to put him on the court until he’s ready. He’s a huge talent, a former All-Star who was having a good season. Admittedly, there are injuries, but our medical staff are fantastic and we can’t wait to integrate them quickly. “
The Wizards’ plan is obviously to pair Kristaps Porzingis with Bradley Beal next season. The full-back will finally be able to have a strong interior at his side after forming duos with leaders like John Wall and Russell Westbrook.
However, in addition to not finishing the 2021/2022 financial year because of his wrist, Beal may also not activate his last year of contract as an option, be free this summer and why not leave. This is not the scenario envisaged by the franchise, which still has the desire to keep it, since an extension has been waiting for it for months.
“It’s probably the first time I’ve talked about it, but I think Bradley will stay here in the future,” announces the GM. “I know it’s information, but we talked about it, him and me, and this is where he wants to be. So I’ll stick with this info. We intend to see our future with him. He has always been clear about his intentions: to help the franchise progress and win the title. If he thinks otherwise, then I’m sure he’ll let it be known. “
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Bradley Beal | 40 | 36.0 | 45.1 | 30.0 | 83.3 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 6.6 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 23.2 |
| Kyle Kuzma | 51 | 33.0 | 45.4 | 33.2 | 69.6 | 1.1 | 7.6 | 8.7 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 16.1 |
| Montrezl Harrell | 46 | 24.3 | 64.5 | 26.7 | 72.7 | 2.1 | 4.6 | 6.7 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 14.1 |
| Spencer Dinwiddie | 44 | 30.2 | 37.6 | 31.0 | 81.1 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 12.6 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | 51 | 29.3 | 40.4 | 36.9 | 89.3 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 11.3 |
| Daniel Gafford | 48 | 20.6 | 67.8 | 0.0 | 75.6 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 8.9 |
| Rui Hachimura | 15 | 18.1 | 45.1 | 41.9 | 76.2 | 0.4 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 8.1 |
| Raulzinho Neto | 45 | 19.7 | 45.1 | 23.1 | 75.3 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 7.5 |
| Thomas Bryant | 12 | 16.4 | 47.9 | 34.8 | 76.5 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 7.4 |
| Deni Avdija | 54 | 22.9 | 44.4 | 30.7 | 75.0 | 0.6 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 7.4 |
| Brad Wanamaker | 1 | 27.1 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 |
| Corey Kispert | 49 | 18.8 | 42.2 | 31.3 | 87.8 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 6.2 |
| Aaron Holiday | 41 | 16.2 | 46.7 | 34.3 | 80.0 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 6.1 |
| Davis Bertans | 34 | 14.7 | 35.1 | 31.9 | 93.3 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 5.7 |
| Greg Monroe | 2 | 8.8 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Anthony Gill | 22 | 6.7 | 70.6 | 62.5 | 78.9 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 3.1 |
| Cassius Winston | 3 | 5.7 | 40.0 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 2.3 |
| Craig Sword | 3 | 6.3 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 2.0 |
| Tremont Waters | 1 | 8.4 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Isaiah Todd | 9 | 3.9 | 33.3 | 40.0 | 50.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.8 |
| Alize Johnson | 3 | 6.1 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
| Joel Ayayi | 7 | 2.9 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Jaime Echenique | 1 | 3.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Jordan Schakel | 2 | 7.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Jordan Goodwin | 2 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
