Grade the Trade: Pacers land $102 million forward in mock deal

Grade the Trade: Indiana Pacers acquire Kyle Kuzma in mock trade with Washington Wizards: Wizards grade

The Washington Wizards are in for a brutal season. They traded Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis this summer, and things are about to get interesting, to say the least.

And in this case, “interesting” means “bad.” Washington is slated to be one of the worst teams in the league, but that fits their goal. They’re headed for a tank.

Since the Wizards just extended Kuzma, it seems likely that they want to keep him around for a while, but considering the season he had last year, dealing him now could be selling high.

That said, this trade probably wouldn’t be worth it to them.

Buddy Hield is nothing more than a salary-filler guy in this deal, and unless they made the trade before the deadline, the Wizards would just lose him for nothing at the end of the year.

Obi Toppin is a cool piece, but the Wizards traded Rui Hachimura last season because they had a glut of forwards on the roster. Adding another would only add to that issue again.

If the Wizards were to explore trades for Kuzma, they would undoubtedly be looking for draft capital and young assets in return. This deal is void of both of those things.

Even the pick they would get back wouldn’t be great, as the Pacers could be due for some improvement heading into next year. The pick will likely fall in the middle of the first round.

Grade: D+