Deal of the Day: Wizards Go On Holiday

Deal of the Day, Salary cap rules may be bent but hopefully not broken. (We already broke some.)

Today’s Deal: Wizards Go On Holiday

The Washington Wizards trade guard Ish Smith, guard Jerome Robinson and a future second round pick to the Indiana Pacers for guard Aaron Holiday and forward Doug McDermott.

Why do the Pacers do the deal?

The Pacers are about to undergo a serious makeover. First they have to pick a coach. Until then we won’t know a lot about who they intend to be. From a GM perspective they could be headed toward parting ways with star Victor Oladipo and center Myles Turner. That’s two mega deals that would reboot the franchise.

In this scenario both of those guys (and Jeremy Lamb) are headed to new professional homes in other deals. This trade works as a subset of a three-team swap sending Turner to San Antonio (stop me if you’ve heard this one but the Wizards get involved to facilitate a bigger deal) or on its own. For now we’ll keep it simple with a two-team concept. In this transaction, the Pacers get a veteran presence at PG to help smooth things out with all the roster turmoil and a young scoring guard for a bench role.

Why do the Wizards do the deal?

McDermott would be a target if the Wizards can’t re-sign Davis Bertans. Dougie McBuckets shot over 40% from the three-point line and his defense isn’t terrible. He has one year left on his deal for $7 million. Also, Leonsis has been waiting patiently to form a partnership with the best pub in County Clare, Ireland.

Aaron Holiday, picked 23rd in the same draft the Wizards picked Troy Brown Jr. at 15, is a good young combo guard who got a little worse defensively in his second year. He may be a bit undersized, but he fits Tommy Sheppard’s mold of a penetrating guard, except he’s also a 39% three-point shooter. That makes him a nice mesh with Brown and the second unit.

The Wizards still need to address the wing and interior defense with their two draft picks and available exceptions. They naturally go after Justin Holiday at the wing with part of the MLE to keep two of the three Holiday brothers together.

The rotation, before draft and free agency:

• John Wall - Aaron Holiday - Shabazz Napier (UFA)
• Bradley Beal - Troy Brown Jr. - Garrison Mathews (RFA)
• Thomas Bryant - ________ - Moritz Wagner - Anzejs Pasecniks (camp guarantee)
• Rui Hachimura - Doug McDermott (Davis Bertans leaves via UFA)
• Isaac Bonga - ________ - Admiral Schofield

Trade Resources

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ESPN Trade Machine

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Stathead.com

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