The Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls have just pulled off a major trade.
As the NBA trade deadline nears on Thursday afternoon, the Wizards managed to trade Otto Porter Jr. in exchange for Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The Washington Wizards are sending Otto Porter to the Chicago Bulls for Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 7, 2019
In addition to Parker and Portis, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com is reporting that the Bulls will also send the Wizards a 2023 second-round draft pick.
The Wizards had become aggressive in attempting to move Porter while Parker had been in the doghouse for the Bulls, falling out of the rotation in December before recently regaining a role off of the bench.
Washington has gone through a disastrous 2018-19 campaign that saw them start out slow. Things haven't gotten much better as they remain in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. Furthermore, John Wall is out for the season due to a serious Achilles' tear that will sideline him for most of the 2019-20 season.
The Wizards now rid themselves of Porter and the three years and $81 million remaining on his contract. General manager Ernie Grunfeld had signed the promising young forward to a four-year, $106 million deal prior to the 2017-18 season when it appeared the Wizards were on the rise. With it being very clear Washington is no longer a contender in a stacked Eastern Conference, it's now time to reload.
Porter had averaged 12.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game in 41 appearances and 28 starts this season. With Porter, Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers now gone, the Wizards now only have to worry about getting rid of Wall and his massive contract.
Parker had signed a one-year, $20 million deal with his hometown Bulls prior to the start of the season, but quickly fell in new head coach Jim Boylan's doghouse. The 23-year-old averaged 14.3 points and 6.2 boards per game in 39 games and 17 starts this season.
Bobby Portis will be a restricted free agent this summer and was originally a first-round draft choice of the Bulls in 2015. The power forward had averaged 14.1 points per game this season but has appeared in just 22 games.
With Parker and Portis having expired contracts after this season, the Wizards front office just cleared major cap space moving forward.
