Grade the Trade: Mavericks cash in on Wizards' fire sale in mock blockbuster

Grading the trade for the Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards concede toward going full rebuild mode if they make this trade, but it might be for the bettermant of their franchise. After the Wizards traded away Beal and Porzingis this past summer, it was well known that Washington wasn't fielding the most proven roster heading into this season. If anything, this Wizards season has only gone worse than expected as they are very much heading toward a total roster overhaul barring some of their young assets.

Many of Washington's players who aren't on rookie-scale contracts have been reportedly made available ahead of the trade deadline, but as aforementioned, new Wizards' general manager Will Dawkins plans to extract as many first-round picks as possible from the veterans on his roster regardless of how long it takes.

In this mock trade, the highlight of the deal for Washington is certainly Green and Hardy, as they'd be in a position in Washington to develop and get extensive minutes with a young core. Who knows how Green and Hardy would fit in Washington given the Wizards' state of disarray, but they'd both likely get more opportunity than in Dallas.

The Wizards would probably try to extract more first-round picks out of Hardaway Jr. beyond just the 2027 first that Dallas is sending them, as Holmes and Hardaway Jr. don't fit Washington's youth movement whatsoever. Perhaps they'd keep Holmes around to mentor their young bigs, but barring that, Washington only does this trade with Dallas to acquire young assets and picks in exchange for good veteran players who don't fit their timeline.

Potential starting lineup: Tyus Jones, Jordan Poole, Josh Green, Deni Avdija, Marvin Bagley III

The Wizards might be able to flip Hardaway Jr. for more picks as aforementioned, which would make this a much more enticing package in total. However, as much potential as Green and Hardy have shown, there are more intriguing young players in the league who could headline a potential Kuzma deal, and Washington still has the burden of trying to find another home for Hardaway Jr. so the Wizards get a B-.