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In a surprise move, the Washington Wizards have reportedly traded Otto Porter Jr. to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the news Wednesday. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski added the Wizards will receive a 2023 second-round pick.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks broke down the financial implications of the move:
“Significant financial savings in Washington with the Otto Porter trade to Chicago. The Wizards tax bill for this season now drops from $8.96M to $3.34M. The team is now $2.3M below the tax threshold. For 2019-20, Washington now has $89.5M in guaranteed contracts, a savings of $28M. Jabari Parker has a $20M team option that needs to be exercised by June 29. Bobby Portis is on an expiring contract and the Wizards will have until the end of June to submit a $3.6M Qualifying Offer.”
ESPN’s Zach Lowe looked at the trade from Chicago’s perspective:
Zach Lowe @ZachLowe_NBA
This is the Bulls being realistic about their cap space and their appeal to free agents right now. Porter is good. The Bulls still need someone who can make plays, but I like the idea behind this deal. Portis for sure worth a look for Wiz as well.
The forward is averaging 12.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season. He was also slowed down by a knee injury that cost him nearly a month of action.
When healthy, Porter has a lot of upside that he has shown at different points in his career. He signed a four-year extension in 2017 worth $106.5 million that will keep him under contract through at least 2019-20 with a player option in 2020-21.
The assumption was that this would keep him in Washington alongside the core of John Wall and Bradley Beal for a significant amount of time. However, a poor start to the season following a first-round exit in last year’s playoffs led to significant drama.
Charania described a “volatile practice” involving the players in November, while Wall was fined for cursing at the coach, per Wojnarowski.
At that point, everyone on the roster was available in a trade, with the team especially hoping to move Porter and Kelly Oubre Jr., per Wojnarowski.
Oubre was eventually dealt for Trevor Ariza in December, while Porter is now headed out of town in his own deal.
The 25-year-old has a chance to start fresh in a new location where he can take advantage of his natural talents. Despite modest scoring numbers, the forward can be an impact player while filling up the stat sheet in a number of ways.
He can rebound, defend and make open shots, knocking down 44.1 percent of his three-point attempts in 2017-18.
The player’s all-around contributions helped him lead the Wizards and rank 26th in the league with 8.1 win shares last season, per Basketball Reference. His total of 9.4 win shares in 2016-17 was good for 21st in the NBA.
The 2013 No. 3 overall draft pick has continued to improve his all-around game and maintains his All-Star potential as he starts the next stage of his career for the rebuilding Bulls.
Seeing how he is under contract in 2019-20 and has a player option for 2020-21, Porter is someone who can be a featured piece for the Bulls for multiple seasons. They are nowhere near playoff contention at 12-41 this season, but there are some young pieces in place with Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr. and Zach LaVine, as well as what figures to be a favorable pick in the 2019 draft.
Porter is someone who can hit perimeter shots when defenders collapse on the Markkanen and Carter frontcourt and provide another relatively young scoring option as the Bulls look toward the future.
from News fore today http://bit.ly/2DirxGw
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