When the calendar turned to Dec. 15 on Saturday, players who signed with new teams in free agency this offseason are now eligible to be traded. And with that, the three-team deal between the Washington Wizards, Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies which fell apart on Saturday night is back on -- although in a slightly different configuration.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Washington Wizards and Phoenix Suns have agreed to a trade that will send forward Trevor Ariza to Washington. In addition, Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers will be headed to Phoenix as part of the trade that includes no draft picks or third teams involved.
Wizards are trading Austin Rivers and Kelly Oubre to the Suns, league sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/GmbeUXzZT3
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 15, 2018
This comes just hours after a three-team trade involving the Memphis Grizzlies fell apart late Friday night. The deal was originally expected to have veteran forward Trevor Ariza heading to the Wizards, Kelly Oubre heading to the Grizzlies and the Suns acquiring Austin Rivers, MarShon Brooks and Wayne Selden to round out the deal.
Here's how SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh's projections show the deal working out for both teams.
For the Wizards, making the trade greatly increases their chances of making the playoffs by nearly 20 percent.
Wizards | Wins | Win% | Win division | Make playoffs |
Before trade | 33.3 | 40.6% | 1.1% | 4.6% |
After trade | 37 | 45.1% | 8.4% | 25% |
Impact | +3.7 | +4.5% | +7.3% | +20.4% |
On the Suns side, though, it doesn't really do much for them. The projections gave them a zero percent chance to make the playoffs both before and after the deal, and it actually slightly lowers their expected wins.
Suns | Wins | Win% | Win division | Make playoffs |
Before trade | 18.9 | 23% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
After trade | 17.8 | 21.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Impact | -1.1 | -1.3% | -- | -- |
The Suns were also supposed to acquire a 2020 second-round pick from the Grizzlies and a conditional 2019 second-round pick from the Wizards. However, the Grizzlies and Suns got the names mixed up and the Suns thought that they were acquiring Dillon Brooks rather than MarShon Brooks. The Grizzlies refused to include Dillon Brooks in the deal, so everything fell apart.
The Los Angeles Lakers had previously been linked as a potential team that could look to acquire Ariza in a three-team trade. Earlier this month, Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers were talking to the Suns about a trade that would involve Ariza and potentially guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. In addition, the Suns are looking to bolster their backcourt, which they have now with the addition of Rivers. Ironically, Ariza's debut with Washington could come Sunday against the Lakers (6 p.m. ET -- watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension).
During the 2018-19 season, Ariza has started in all 26 games that he's suited up for and has put together averages of 9.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 34.8 percent from beyond the arc. In Thursday's 99-89 win over the Dallas Mavericks, Ariza scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting and knocked down three shots from deep after missing a game against the San Antonio Spurs earlier in the week.
Ariza is familiar with the Wizards organization because he played for the team from 2012-14. The veteran forward owned averages of 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 39.3 percent from beyond the arc during his two seasons in the nation's capital.
