FanPost

Should the Wizards make a trade for Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle?

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Earlier this week, Ernie Grunfield cut Michael Young and sent McCollough (our 2017 draft pick, right EG?) to the G-League. There could be two reasons for this: Grunfeld is disappointed by Young's performance in Delaware, or he is making room for a trade.

The first reason has some ground. Young is averaging 12.4 ppg and 5.7 rebounds and is shooting 44% from the field; they're decent numbers, but they also sustain the concerns from his final season at Pitt. At Pitt, he averaged 19.6 points but only 6.8 rebounds in his final year and shot 45% from the field. He was never much of an upside player, so it's possible Ernie just cut him because there was no point in paying him.

However, I find that somewhat unlikely, or maybe that is wishful thinking because of the second option: TRADES!!!! This team needs to get younger and better, and trades or drafting is the way to do it. Ernie might have cut Michael Young to make room on the roster for a multi-player trade. Here's my idea in depth:

According to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers would love to trade Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle. About two months ago, I wrote an article concerning a trade with these two. I am the victim of making lopsided trades for the Wizards; I tend to seek the perfect trade for the franchise instead of an achievable one. My trade in that article was Ian Mahinmi, Chris McCollough, and a 1st for Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson.

At the time, it certainly seemed lopsided; Mahinmi was in terrible form, McCollough was a DNP every game, Randle seemed like he was having a bounce-back year, and Clarkson was as reliable as ever. Clarkson and McCollough are in the same situation, but Randle and Mahinmi's have changed. Mahinmi has improved since then; his FG% has gone from 36% in November to 61% in December, and in January he's averaging 8 points per game! (Then again, he's only played one game.)

Randle's situation, however, is semi-crazy. Luke Walton played him for 31 minutes versus Golden State, and then only 8 versus the Rockets. Since then, both the players have been involved in trade rumors, so the Lakers are definitely trying to trade them. So now, the trade seems less lopsided in terms of player value, perhaps (remember the Lakers don't have their pick, so getting one from us would be valuable), but one problem still remains: the Lakers' incentive. The Lakers, as a rebuilding franchise, need picks, so this trade makes sense. But the Lakers, as a franchise trying to sign players like PG13 and LBJ in free agency, needs cap space.

This is where this trade wavers: the classic expiring contract dilemma. People always debate whether it is better to trade an expiring contract so you let him leave for nothing, or keep him so that when he walks, the team will have extra cap space.

If the Lakers value cap space alone, this trade will never happen as they would be trading an expiring Randle contract for a Mahinmi contract; however, if LA values getting something from Randle, they might trade him for a pick and trade two bigger contracts in Mahinmi and Clarkson.

The Wiz could also trade Gortat and a 1st for Randle and Clarkson, which would work much better. Since Gortat and Clarkson's salaries are almost identical, the Lakers would be saving cap space and gaining a pick, while the Wizards would be gaining a young player (Randle) who we can hopefully resign and a competent backup guard. My excitement with Randle is that Scott Brooks' strength is player development; a player with Randle's athleticism could certainly blossom under him.

Of course, the ironic thing about this trade is that this does not answer the question about Michael Young at all; I was just excited that my trade was coming to light. We would be trading an equal number of players, and the point of this article was to figure out why we waived a player. The solution would then be to cut McCollough out of the trade. The trade is now:

Gortat and a 2018 1st for Clarkson and Randle

The Lakers' need for cap space probably stops the possibility of trading Morris, even though a Gortat, Morris, and our 1st trade for Clarkson, Randle, and Bryant trade would basically be giving the Lakers Morris for free.

I steered way off course, but whatever. Poll!

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.