The Washington Wizards have reportedly agreed on a trade with the Denver Nuggets to acquire Monte Morris and Will Barton.
On Wednesday, The Athletic’s Lead NBA Insider Shams Charania broke the news of a deal brokered between the Wizards and Nuggets that will see the two teams swap a pair of players. “Denver is nearing trading Monte Morris and Will Barton to Washington in a deal for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith, sources tell TheAthletic,” Charania wrote on Twitter.
Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets swing four-player trade
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In landing Morris and Barton, Washington acquires a pair of reliable rotation players who will give the team serious depth and two veterans that will bolster a weak bench in 2021-2022. With Jamal Murray out for all of last season with an injury, Barton (14.7 PPG) and Morris (12.6 PPG) were two of the team’s next best scorers behind the outstanding efforts of league MVP Nikola Jokic.
The deal seems pretty lopsided in the favor of the Wizards. While Caldwell-Pope was a solid player for the team this past season, Ish Smith is an expendable bench talent who only played 22 minutes and averaged under nine points a game after being traded to Washington by the Charlotte Hornets.
Barton and Morris is certainly a better haul between the two sides, however, reports have claimed that the Nuggets have been looking to cut salary this offseason and that is why two of their more useful rotation players were on the block.
Barton will become a free agent after next season while Morris is signed for two more years at just under $10 million annually.