Washington Wizards
The Wizards have been a mess all season long and while they went on a little bit of a winning run before the All-Star break, they have not won a game since then.
Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook seem to be the only consistent options on this Wizards team and with no talent around them, it would be a no-brainer for them to target a guy like Lauri Markkanen.
With Thomas Bryant being out for the year with an ACL injury, the Wizards have nobody besides Rui Hachimura to turn to for production in the frontcourt. Hachimura is in his second season in the NBA and is still growing as a player, which is why pairing him with a guy like Lauri Markkanen makes a ton of sense.
Both players can continue to grow together in the frontcourt and adding Markkanen to their rotation gives the Wizards another dependable option they can turn to outside of their two superstars.
RELATED: NBA Trade Rumors: 4 teams in real need of making a change at the NBA trade deadline
For a franchise that has nothing going for them right now, taking a chance on a high-level, young talent makes a ton of sense. At this point, the Wizards have everything to lose with Bradley Beal, which is why they have nothing to lose when it comes to going out and targeting high-level talents at the NBA trade deadline this year.
Not to mention, he is a very affordable trade target for them since he is only owed $6.7M this season. With the Wizards being $21.9M over the salary cap, they could definitely move some contracts around to acquire Markkanen.
