Kelly Oubre

Western Notes: Oubre, Rivers, Doncic, Young

December 18th, 2018 at 5:31pm CST by ChrisCrouse

New addition Kelly Oubre is expected to make his debut for the Suns on Wednesday against the Celtics. It’s unclear what role he’ll play in Phoenix but the 23-year-old appears ready for whatever the team asks of him.

“They’re on a three-game winning streak, man, and I don’t wanna come in and slow them down in any type of way,” Oubre said (via Gina Mizell of The Athletic). “I try to help everybody get better, and in the process be aggressive and find myself in the system…I bring a lot of energy.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Suns officially waived Austin Rivers earlier today and it’s unlikely any team claims Rivers off of waivers, ESPN’s Bobby Marks contends (Twitter link). The Nuggets are the only team with enough cap space to make the claim and it’s unlikely they take a flyer on Rivers at his current $12.65MM salary since doing so would take them across the luxury tax threshold.
The Mavericks had conducted years of homework on Luka Doncic prior to the 2018 NBA Draft and it wasn’t difficult to convince owner Mark Cuban to trade up and nab the 19-year-old, as Eddie Sefko of Sports Day relays.“Mark saw all the same things we did,” GM Donnie Nelson said. “There were no coconuts necessary on this one.”
Nick Young, who recently signed with the Nuggets on a non-guaranteed, one-year deal, is fitting in well with his new team, Mike Singer of The Denver Post details. Assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr. applauds Young’s adaptability. “He’s been as kind-hearted as they come. I think a lot of times [Young is] misunderstood, but there’s not a negative bone in his body,” Unseld said. “He is one of the most positive people that I’ve ever met. A little different, a little eclectic, but he’s very positive and it’s good particularly in the situation he’s in. Guys gravitate toward him.”

Wizards Notes: Ariza, Oubre, Dekker, Porter

December 18th, 2018 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Suns guard Devin Booker referred to Trevor Ariza as a player who was “loved in the locker room” in Phoenix, but the club’s slow start to the season took a toll on the veteran forward — sources tell Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic that Ariza “checked out mentally” early in the 2018/19 campaign. The decision to trade him was a mutual one made by the Suns and Ariza’s camp, Rankin adds.

Ariza, who is joining the Wizards for the second time in his career, will be thrown into the fire right away by his new team — he’ll be in Washington’s starting lineup on Tuesday night, head coach Scott Brooks said today (Twitter link via Candace Buckner of The Washington Post).

As Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington observes, Ariza primarily came off the bench during his first season in D.C. back in 2012/13, but he has started every game since then, so it’s no surprise that he’ll slot right into the starting five for the Wizards. His old teammates are looking forward to playing alongside him again, as Standig relays.

“It’s always great to add a guy like Trevor back, one of the best veterans and teammates I had,” John Wall said. “We know what he brings to the table.”

Here’s more on the Wizards:

In an article for NBC Sports Washington, Chase Hughes explores whether the Wizards got enough for Kelly Oubre after spending several years developing him. Within the piece, a source tells Hughes that Oubre and the Wizards never got very close to reaching a deal on a contract extension during the offseason.
Sam Dekker is turning out to not just be a throw-in in a trade that saved the Wizards some money — the veteran forward has earned regular minutes in Washington’s rotation during his first week and a half with his new team, as Ben Standig details for NBC Sports Washington. “He cuts to the basket, he moves the ball, he plays hard, he brings energy, he plays with the proper respect for the game,” head coach Scott Brooks said of Dekker. “That is what I love about him, he always seems to be prepared. He doesn’t have to turn the switch on, it’s on.”
Otto Porter was diagnosed with a Grade II strain of his right vastus medialis, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (Twitter link), who explains that the vastus medialis is part of the quadriceps muscle group. Porter will likely sit out until next week, Buckner reports.
Earlier today, the Wizards finalized their signing of Chasson Randle and we took a closer look at the timing of that move.

Suns Notes: Kokoskov, Oubre, Rivers, Ewans, Arena

December 17th, 2018 at 7:21pm CST by marksuleymanov

Over the weekend, the Suns struck a deal — which initially started as a failed three-team trade — that sent swingman Trevor Ariza to the Wizards in exchange for Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers. The deal became official on Monday as both teams announced the move.

The Wizards reunited with a former player who has experience contending for the postseason. For the Suns, their return is more rooted in maintenance, head coach Igor Kokoskov told reporters (via Gina Mizell of The Athletic).

“We need somebody who’s gonna help us with maintaining,” he said. “A lot of games, we can’t go through the 48 minutes…We’re gonna find their roles. We definitely can use the talent and experience they have.”

Kokoskov’s comments are reflective of the Suns’ NBA-worst 6-24 record. It’s possible that Phoenix trades one or both of their new players closer to the trade deadline but in the meantime, they should help the Suns at least appear competitive.

Check out more Suns notes below:

Kokoskov is an 18-year NBA assistant coach currently in his first season as a head coach. In that short stint, the Suns have made seven different roster moves, showing the team’s state of influx. As Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic writes, Kokoskov is involved in the process of all those moves. “NBA organization is a serious organization,” Kokoskov said. “I’m always asked for opinion and my job description is to run the team and coach the team and get us ready and prepared for Minnesota.”
Jawun Evans, currently on a two-way deal with the Suns, has shown the ability to be an effective player in the G League. Ewans’ hope is to translate that success with Phoenix, where he was carved out a role off the bench, Cody Cunningham of NBA.com writes. “I just hope to bring grit to the team,” Evans said. “Somebody that on the defensive and offensive end, just to play faster and get everybody involved. Go out there and just have fun playing basketball.”
Rebekah L. Sanders of the Arizona Republic examines the Suns’ arena situation and why it might be one of the worst in the NBA. As various NBA franchise attempt to sway the NBA into new arenas, the Suns’ 26-year-old Talking Stick Resort Arena will be the oldest arena in the NBA not to be renovated or rebuilt in the past five years, Sanders writes.

Suns Trade Ariza To Wizards For Oubre, Rivers

December 17th, 2018 at 10:05am CST by marksuleymanov

DECEMBER 17: The trade is now official, with both the Suns and Wizards issuing press releases to confirm the move.

DECEMBER 15: After a hectic Friday night in which a three-team deal was scrapped, the Suns have agreed to deal Trevor Ariza to the Wizards in exchange for Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 reports (Twitter link). The trade call with the league is scheduled for later today, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Last night’s nearly completed deal would have sent Ariza to the Wizards, Rivers to the Suns and allowed the Grizzlies to acquire Oubre for Wayne Selden, two second-round picks, and one other player. The confusion came over the identity of that other player as the Grizzlies believed they were dealing MarShon Brooks while the Suns thought Dillon Brooks was headed their way.

As we relayed in a separate story, despite the nixed deal, Phoenix and Washington remained in touch to see if an Ariza trade could be completed.

This version of an Ariza trade includes three players in the final year of their respective deals. For Ariza, the trade means the end of a brief 26-game stint in Phoenix as he signed a one-year, $15MM deal with the Suns during the 2018 offseason. Ariza averaged 9.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and a .379/.360/.837 shooting line for the Suns.

This marks a homecoming of sorts for Ariza as he spent two seasons with the Wizards, including perhaps his best season as a pro in 2013/14, when he averaged 14.4 PPG and 6.2 RPG with a .456/.407/.772 shooting line. Prior to this trade, we had relayed at least eight teams had expressed interest in Ariza, including the Lakers and Rockets — two teams he had previously suited up for.

During his stint in the nation’s capital, Ariza was reportedly a respected presence who, among other things, had a good impact on the team’s All-Star point guard, John Wall. At 11-18, the Wizards are 2.5 games back of the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed and will hope Ariza’s 3-and-D ability can narrow the gap.

For the NBA-worst Suns, they acquired a pair of useful assets that could possibly be used as trade chips later in the season. Rivers, 26, has been a mainstay off the Wizards’ bench, averaging 7.2 PPG and 2.4 RPG for Washington. Rivers’ shooting has taken a hit this season as his field-goal percentage (39.2%) and three-point shooting (31.1%) are his worst in several seasons.

As for Oubre, 23, he averaged a career-high 12.9 PPG in 29 games (seven starts) for the Wizards. By trading Oubre, the Wizards will create a traded player exception worth his salary ($3,208,630). Washington already had four trade exceptions, including one worth $5.45MM, as our list of outstanding TPEs shows.

Oubre is set to hit restricted free agency this upcoming summer, at which point the Suns could tender him a $4.5MM qualifying offer, ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes. Phoenix could flip Oubre before the trade deadline but cannot aggregate him with another player for salary-matching purposes.

Once the deal is completed, the Wizards’ roster will dip below the requirement of 14. Washington will need to sign another player within two weeks to get their roster count back up to the minimum.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wizards Notes: Ariza, Oubre, Rivers, Wall

December 16th, 2018 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Trading for Trevor Ariza is a short-sighted move that offers false hope to Wizards fans, writes Tom Ziller of SB Nation. Washington makes a similar move nearly every season, Ziller notes, adding veteran players who are supposed to be difference makers, but the team has won just three playoff series since John Wall arrived.

The addition of Ariza, in a deal expected to be completed tomorrow, seems almost certain to be a short-term move. His contract expires at the end of the season, Washington doesn’t acquire his Bird Rights because he’s on a one-year deal and the team already projects to be over the cap for 2019/20.

The Wizards wanted to unload Kelly Oubre, who is being shipped to Phoenix, before he hit restricted free agency next summer. But Ziller blasts that thought process as well, contending the team would have been better off taking its chances that Oubre wouldn’t get an offer that’s too expensive to match. As it stands, Washington will probably enter next season without Ariza, Oubre or anything else to show from this weekend’s trade.

There’s more from the nation’s capital:

Players were left in disbelief after the bizarre circumstances of Friday’s canceled trade, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Oubre and Austin Rivers learned they were being dealt Friday night, then found out the deal collapsed before it was revived in a different form Saturday morning. “It was kind of weird and kind of difficult,” Wall said. “[We] go into the locker room and we’re about to shower and stuff and we don’t understand who is about to get traded, who’s been traded. It was kind of a tough situation. I give those guys a lot of credit. They handled that stuff like professionals. A lot of guys could have reacted in different ways, which I have seen in the past.”
Wall understands the financial component of the deal and why the team wasn’t optimistic about keeping Oubre, Hughes adds in the same piece. Washington has the sixth-highest payroll in the league and is facing a significant luxury tax payment. The team has made three trades already this season and has saved money on each one. “We have three guys that are paid pretty high,” Wall said. “And then understanding what Kelly is going to receive or ask for this summer, I don’t think we have the money to match it. So, I think that’s the reason why we made that trade.”
The Wizards sent $500K to the Bucks in last week’s deal that brought in Sam Dekker for Jason Smith, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.

Grizzlies GM Speaks Out On Failed Trade

December 15th, 2018 at 6:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Suns traded Trevor Ariza to the Wizards this morning without any involvement from the Grizzlies after last night’s three-team deal collapsed because of confusion over whether Dillon Brooks or MarShon Brooks was being sent to Phoenix.

Memphis GM Chris Wallace spoke to reporters today about the drama and denied that his team had any role in making the Suns think they were getting Dillon instead of MarShon, writes Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian.

“We were very clear about who was in the trade,” Wallace said. “Contrary to reports, it was not Dillon Brooks. It put us in a very difficult situation with our players when individuals from one or both of those teams leaked the deal while we were playing last night. That forced me to do something I’ve never done in 30 years in this league working for seven teams: To drag two players out of the locker room to tell them they’d been traded and then come back and tell them, no, you haven’t been traded.”

The proposed deal would have sent Ariza to Washington, Kelly Oubre to Memphis and Austin Rivers, Wayne Selden and Brooks — either Dillon or MarShon — to Phoenix. It’s obvious why the Suns would prefer the 22-year-old Dillon Brooks, who was a second-round draft pick in 2017 and is coming off a promising rookie season. MarShon Brooks, 29, is with his fifth NBA franchise and was out of the league for more than three years before Memphis signed him last season.

The trade was virtually finalized before the Grizzlies and Suns realized they were talking about different players, which Wallace admits was an unprecedented turn of events.

“”Fortunately MarShon and Wayne are pros and after I explained it to them they’re both OK with the situation and we’re all moving forward,” Wallace said. “But what happened last night was unfathomable. From our standpoint, and we made this very clear, it was not Dillon Brooks.”

Wallace believes much of the confusion came about because the Grizzlies and Wizards were both occupied with games. News of the deal leaked before those games concluded, which may help to explain the contradictory reports. Herrington notes that original reports had Dillon Brooks as part of the deal, so it’s unlikely they came from Memphis.

Wallace explained that the trade began to come together Thursday afternoon, but most of the work was done Friday through “multiple discussions” with Washington. He adds that the three teams could probably have worked out the confusion behind the scenes if news of the deal hadn’t been leaked. He also suggested that the incident may make him wary about future dealings with the Suns and Wizards.

“I don’t carry grudges, but I’m not happy about what happened last night,” he said. “We were put in a very difficult position with our players, a position we take great pains not to get into, and we were forced to talk to them (about a trade) right after a loss in the locker room. This should all have stayed in house, and it didn’t, and that started the avalanche going downhill.”

Financial Impact Of Suns/Wizards Trade

December 15th, 2018 at 2:30pm CST by clarkcrum

The trade between the Suns and Wizards agreed to this morning won’t be finalized until Monday, when the league office opens back up for the week, but since it’s still fresh in everyone’s mind, we wanted to take dive into the financial impact now and in the future for both Phoenix and Washington.

How salary-matching works in the trade:

Trevor Ariza‘s $15,000,000 cap hit is the largest salary involved in the trade. Because the Suns will be a non-taxpaying team after the trade and Ariza’s salary is between $6,533,334 and $19,600,000, it alone allows the Suns to take back up to $20MM in salary (the outgoing salary, plus $5MM). As such, using it to absorb both Austin R ivers‘ ($12,650,000) and Kelly Oubre‘s ($3,208,630) contracts is permissible under the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement rules.

As for the Wizards, Rivers’ salary alone is able to absorb Ariza’s salary. Specifically, because the Wizards will remain a tax-paying team after the trade, they are permitted under the CBA to acquire up to $15,912,500 for Rivers’ salary (125% of $12,650,000, plus $100K), which is more than the $15MM owed to Ariza. And because the Wizards are therefore essentially trading Oubre for nothing in return, they’ll acquire a traded player exception worth the amount of his salary – $3,208,630.

As we noted before in these series of posts on financial ramifications after trades, the rules for the amount the Suns can take back using Ariza’s $15MM vs. the amount the Wizards can take back using Rivers’ $12.65MM are different because the rules are different for teams in the tax. We explain that in more depth in our glossary entry on the traded player exception.

The luxury tax ramifications for the Wizards:

While the deal last week for Sam Dekker appeared to be primarily financially motivated for Washington, this deal seems to be more about bringing Ariza back to help the team win now and improve the locker room dynamics.

However, the Wizards do also improve their projected tax bill with this trade. The team’s payroll will be reduced by $558.6K, which equates to tax savings of about $1.5MM (h/t to Albert Nahmad).

Future cap ramifications:

All three players – Ariza, Rivers, and Oubre – will be free agents next summer, so their isn’t really any ramification for either team’s 2019 cap outlook. However, it’s interesting to note that the Wizards were probably wary about having to pay for Oubre next summer, who will likely be looking for a large payday coming off his rookie contract.

The Wizards already have $111.2MM in guaranteed salary for next season for only five players, so it’s unlikely they would have been willing to spend big on Oubre considering the team’s struggles so far this season.

Latest On Failed Three-Team Trevor Ariza Trade

December 15th, 2018 at 10:02am CST by marksuleymanov

In what was a whirlwind few hours on Friday night, a three-team deal centered around Suns’ swingman Trevor Ariza fell apart. As it was reported, the deal would have sent Trevor Ariza to the Wizards and Austin Rivers to the Suns, and allowed the Grizzlies to acquire Kelly Oubre for Wayne Selden, two second-round picks, and one other player.

The confusion came over the identity of that other player as the Grizzlies believed they were dealing MarShon Brooks while the Suns thought Dillon Brooks was headed their way. We outlined in a pair of stories how the deal fell apart, particularly with the Grizzlies and Suns using the Wizards as a conduit in lieu of direct communication. The deal was scrapped after all three teams spoke directly and the Brooks-related confusion became apparent.

In his latest report, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski added new tidbits of information in regards to the scrapped trade and where Ariza may be headed.

After the original deal fell apart, several other teams began to push Phoenix to enter the fray for Ariza’s services. The Lakers and Rockets were both engaging the Suns for Ariza, Wojnarowski noted. Along with the Wizards, this marks three of Ariza’s former teams being in contention to reacquire him.
The Suns privately insisted they had direct conversations with Grizzlies officials on Dillon — not Marshoon — Brooks and Memphis denied that, per Wojnarowski. The Grizzlies viewpoint is that Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld negotiated the deal and that a miscommunication with interim Suns GM James Jones led to the gaffe.
All the parts in the three-team swap were finalized until the Grizzlies and Suns saw conflicting reports on which Brooks was included in the deal. That led to a direct conversation in which the Suns informed Memphis that a deal would not happen unless it included Dillon Brooks.
Ariza and his agent are hopeful that he finds his way back to the Lakers. However, that seems unlikely at this point as Suns owner Robert Sarver is wary of dealing him to the Lakers after criticism that Tyson Chandler‘s buyout created an easy path to Los Angeles. For what it’s worth, Wojnarowski reports that the Lakers were eager to acquire Ariza.

Recapping Friday’s Drama And Resetting The Ariza Market

December 14th, 2018 at 11:09pm CST by Luke Adams

With the calendar having turned to December 15, Suns forward Trevor Ariza is now officially eligible to be traded. However, it appears the veteran forward won’t be going to the Wizards in a three-team trade that included the Grizzlies and was seemingly on the verge of completion on Friday night.

As we explained in updates to our story on those Ariza trade talks, a deal sending the Suns forward to D.C. was about to cross the finish line when Memphis and Phoenix realized they weren’t on the same page on one of the players involved in the proposal — the Suns thought they were receiving promising young forward Dillon Brooks from the Grizzlies, while Memphis believed journeyman guard MarShon Brooks was the player involved in the deal. With the Grizzlies unwilling to include Dillon and the Suns unwilling to trade for MarShon, the potential swap fell apart.

How exactly does something like this happen? Well, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Grizzlies and Suns never spoke directly during the negotiations, using the Wizards as a conduit. However, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, who is one of the most plugged-in reporters on the Suns’ side, tweets that Phoenix had “multiple conversations” with Memphis over the last 24 hours, and even checked Dillon Brooks‘ medicals.

The Suns never had any discussions about MarShon Brooks with either team, according to Gambadoro, who strongly suggests (via Twitter) that the Grizzlies appear to be the team at fault here.

Conversely, according to David Aldridge of The Athletic (via Twitter), the Grizzlies say they “never” discussed Dillon Brooks with anyone and were always talking about MarShon Brooks, adding that they’re “at a loss” to understand the mix-up. However, Wojnarowski tweets that the Wizards believed in conversations with Memphis that they were talking about Dillon.

As Howard Beck of Bleacher Report observes (via Twitter), in the days before details of potential deals leaked immediately to Twitter, this is the sort of mix-up that would have killed a trade well before word broke publicly. Given how today’s media landscape works though, we learned about the failed deal in real time, rather than seeing it reported as a humorous “what-if” anecdote months or years later.

The ramifications of today’s drama shouldn’t be overlooked — Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers will presumably remain Wizards, knowing that their team had reached an agreement to trade them. It’ll be interesting to see if that has an impact on them going forward, or if Washington is motivated to work out a new deal to move them to avoid locker-room discomfort.

In Memphis, MarShon Brooks and Wayne Selden are in the same boat. According to Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (via Twitter), both players were told when leaving the floor tonight that they were being traded, but they’ll report back to the Grizzlies tomorrow.

Meanwhile, before the Brooks-related drama reached its climax -when it still appeared the deal would get done – an interesting detail was reported about Ariza. A source told David Aldridge of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Suns owner Robert Sarver was adamantly opposed to sending the 33-year-old to the Lakers, prompting Phoenix’s front office to pivot to other options. Will Sarver stick to that stance now that today’s deal fell through? Can we essentially rule the Lakers out of the Ariza sweepstakes going forward?

Today’s failed deal also provides a hint of what sort of return the Suns are looking for in exchange for Ariza. Gambadoro tweets that the deal was all about Dillon Brooks for Phoenix, rather than Rivers or Selden. So despite their depth on the wing and their need for a point guard, the Suns appear willing to move Ariza for a promising young player at any position — not just one who fills a position of need.

The Wizards and Suns could still try to find a third team to make an Ariza deal work, with potential trade partners knowing now that Oubre could be had. Of course, reports earlier this week suggested that at least eight teams had expressed some interest in Ariza, and now that we have a sense of what it might take to get him, perhaps some new opportunities will open up for the Suns.

It’s not even out of the realm of possibility that these three teams revisit the framework of today’s deal in an effort to find a compromise, according to Aldridge, who notes (via Twitter) that one source said Sarver and Grizzlies owner Robert Pera talked to each other and discussed Dillon Brooks. In a follow-up tweet, Aldridge notes that Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace strongly denies that Sarver and Pera spoke about this proposed trade.

Whatever happens next, tonight’s Ariza/Brooks drama is just the latest reminder of why the NBA’s rumor mill is so much fun.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Three-Team Trevor Ariza Trade Falls Apart

December 14th, 2018 at 10:09pm CST by Luke Adams

10:09pm: The deal is now considered dead, according to reports from Wojnarowski and Tom Habestroh of NBC Sports (Twitter links).

The Grizzlies and Suns didn’t communicate directly during the three-team negotiations, using the Wizards as a conduit, which led to the Brooks-related confusion, sources tell Wojnarowski and Lowe (Twitter link). Memphis pulled out after the three clubs all talked directly, according to Woj, who tweets that the Suns and Wizards would have to find a new third team to complete an Ariza trade.

9:55pm: The trade is now in jeopardy due to confusion over which Brooks the Suns they believed they were getting in the deal, according to Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN (Twitter link). Sources tell Woj that the Grizzlies won’t put Dillon Brooks in the deal.

9:40pm: There’s some confusion over which Brooks is going from the Grizzlies to the Suns in this proposed deal.

As detailed below, Wojnarowski and Gambadoro first reported that it was Dillon Brooks, but Woj issued a clarification to say it was MarShon Brooks. Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (Twitter links) has also cited sources who say it’s MarShon. However, Gambadoro has insisted multiple times (via Twitter) that it’s Dillon and says the MarShon reports are inaccurate.

We’ll have an update as soon as there’s confirmation one way or the other.

8:57pm: The Wizards are in advanced talks to acquire veteran forward Trevor Ariza from the Suns, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Wojnarowski, Washington is making an effort to finalize a multi-team trade agreement involving Ariza tonight. He’ll become officially trade-eligible on Saturday.

Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that the Grizzlies will be the third team involved in the deal. In the proposed trade, which is moving toward completion, Kelly Oubre would head to the Grizzlies and the Suns would receive Austin Rivers and two Memphis role players, according to Wojnarowski. Woj adds (via Twitter) that the Wizards would also receive a conditional 2019 second-round pick and a 2020 second-rounder from the Grizzlies.

John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 follows up on Wojnarowski’s report with more details, tweeting that Wayne Selden would head to Phoenix as part of the deal. While Gambadoro and Wojnarowski both originally had Dillon Brooks as part of the package, Woj clarifies (via Twitter) that it’s actually MarShon Brooks, not Dillon, who would be sent to the Suns.

Ariza signed a one-year, $15MM deal with the Suns during the 2018 offseason after a productive four-year run in Houston. Before joining the Rockets, he spent two seasons with the Wizards, including perhaps his best season as a pro in 2013/14, when he averaged 14.4 PPG and 6.2 RPG with a .456/.407/.772 shooting line.

Ariza’s numbers so far this season have been somewhat modest — 9.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and .379/.360/.837 shooting. Still, the three-and-D wing would be a seamless fit into virtually any playoff contender’s lineup, and would provide the Wizards with a reliable defender in the frontcourt – at the expense of some backcourt depth – as they look to get back into the playoff picture in the East. His expiring contract wouldn’t create any added cap flexibility for the Wizards next summer, since Rivers ($12.65MM) and Oubre ($3.21MM) are also in the final year of their respective deals.

The deal figures to reduce the likelihood of an Otto Porter trade, since Oubre was viewed as a potential insurance policy for Porter. The Wizards probably couldn’t have realistically paid big bucks to Oubre as a restricted free agent in 2019 if the maximum-salary contracts for John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Porter all remained on their books. It seems they’ll no longer have to worry about re-signing Oubre.

Oubre instead would be on track to reach restricted free agency next summer for the Grizzlies, who are poised to add the promising 23-year-old small forward to their lineup as a result of this move. Oubre has showed steady improvement over his four NBA seasons, and is posting career-highs in several categories in 2018/19, including PPG (13.0) and FG% (.433).

As for the Suns, their NBA-worst 5-24 start reduced their need for a veteran contributor like Ariza, which made him a popular trade target. Reports earlier in the week suggested that at least eight teams had expressed some interest in the 33-year-old, with the Lakers among them. However, a source tells David Aldridge of The Athletic (Twitter link) that owner Robert Sarver was adamantly opposed to sending Ariza to the Lakers, prompting the Suns to pivot to other options.

Phoenix had reportedly been seeking a play-making guard in return for Ariza, and would receive a couple of players in this deal who could fit that bill. While Rivers and Brooks aren’t traditional point guards, they’re both capable of assuming some ball-handling duties for the Suns. Selden, meanwhile, is a swingman who figures to slot in at the two or three in Phoenix.

The Suns currently have 14 players on their roster, so they’d need to waive someone to complete the deal. Eric Moreland, who signed a non-guaranteed contract earlier this week, appears likely to be the odd man out.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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