Deal of the Day: Wizards Look to Rockets for Wing Depth - Bullets Forever

Deal of the Day, Salary cap rules may be bent but hopefully not broken. We already broke some.

Today’s Deal: What Would a Danuel House Trade Look Like?

Earlier in this series we wondered what former Wizard could be reacquired to help the 2021 team. Trevor Ariza isn’t walking through that door. This deal brings back another former Wizard and hopefully a better fit than the elder statesman Ariza.

The Wizards trade guard Jerome Robinson and center Moritz Wagner to the Houston Rockets for wing Danuel House Jr.

Why do the Rockets do the deal?

You may not remember because it happened years ago last month, but House was ejected from the NBA Bubble for having an unauthorized guest in his room. This was quite the disruption to the Rockets, costing them their sixth-man for the rest of the series.

The Rockets have to send a message by finding a new home for him. Shouldn’t be hard to do with a 6-7 wing who shot 36% from three-point range on 355 attempts last season. He was also favorite of former Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni.

In any other year he would have been dealt already. Only the NBA transaction moratorium has saved him to this point.

Houston gets a young big as to begin restocking the position and a possible two-way guard while avoiding any long term salary.

Why do the Wizards do the deal?

One goal of the offseason is to get bigger. We normally think of that in terms of the front court. In this case, House’s ability to play up or down a position defensively fills a vital bench role in DC.

House makes $3.7 million next season and $3.8 million the season after. Wildly reasonable for a player of his impact.

The front office didn’t like how Robinson struggled against bigger players in the bubble. Adding him with Wagner to match salary gets the deal done.

Adding a wing via trade reinforces one of the offseason goals. It also allows the team to use more of the MLE toward an interior defender. Now they can also draft a F/C without overcrowding the position.

Wizards would still have #9 (Onyeka Okongwu), #37 (Cassius Winston), the MLE (Serge Ibaka) and the BAE (Bryn Forbes):

Poll

Trade JR and Mo Wags for Danuel House?

• 62%

  Yes, perfect chance to pick up a good player in a bad spot.

  (71 votes)
• 37%

  Nah, would rather hold on to our young duo.

  (42 votes)

113 votes total Vote Now

Trade Resources

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ESPN Trade Machine

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Stathead.com

Want to request a trade target or send a challenge? Email me at Jheiser3@gmail.com and include your Bullets Forever screen name.