Deal of the Day: How would a Davis Bertans for Markelle Fultz trade work out?

There’s got to be a better Davis Bertans Deal out there. A better barter for Bertans with a relative risk of re-injury. And in today’s deal, the Washington Wizards (hypothetically) trade Davis Bertans (and a 2nd round pick?) to the Orlando Magic for Markelle Fultz.

Why do the Magic do the deal?

Fultz tore his left ACL last January in a devasting injury for a guy seemingly all of central Florida is rooting for. He’s been playing 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 with the Magic and their G League team. He’s about ready to go.

Next comes the chore of finding minutes for him. Their depth chart sped right past Markelle. Cole Anthony is putting up 18-6-6 in his second year, earning him All Star weekend invitations to the Rising Stars and the dunk contest. The Magic drafted Jalen Suggs in the ’21 draft. Despite battling pesky injuries he’s looked better since returning.

So... Why? Because they already regret Fultz’s extension? I know what that feels like. I don’t know that they regret it yet. Bertans is only guaranteed $5 million more than Fultz. The Wizards can send them $3 million now to help cover that eventual cost. They can send more than that but $3 million sounds fair. Invest that in Amway stock. Might need to include a pick given the age difference.

I know there’s a school of thought that young building teams have no use for veteran role players. I tend to disagree. No matter how robust your training and player development staff is, there’s a limit to how many projects you can work on at one time. Subtracting Fultz from the project list provides them more time to work with Anthony, Suggs, Das Wagners, Okeke, RJ Hampton and the draft picks coming in this summer.

They’re 11th in pace which suits Bertans way better than some of the slower teams we’ve discussed. The Magic would need to rehabilitate Bertans value a bit but with salary cap increases they’d be in position to flip him for assets the way they are likely to do with Terrence Ross in the next few days.

Why do the Wizards do the deal?

Fultz has been through so much in his short career. The saga in Philly. A mini-rebound in Orlando. This is how story books are written. He gets traded home to DC, close to where he starred for DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, MD. He revives his still young career and stays healthy long enough to enjoy it.

His game is more utility knife than primary scorer. His shot remains… in progress. In that way maybe he’s better suited to fill in behind Orlando’s new class of guards but if he can play defense he’d be worthwhile using his frame to disrupt opposing offenses. He’s not exactly the #D guard I’d like to pair with Brad (and sometimes) Spencer. Delon Wright is more my style there but he could be developed into an even stronger role player given his vision and passing.

After just this move, the roster would look like this:

• G: Dinwiddie - Fultz - Neto - Winston
• G: Beal - Kispert
• F: KCP - Avdija
• F: Kuzma - Hachimura - Todd - Gill
• C: Gafford - Harrell - Bryant

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