Wednesday afternoon, Washington Wizards general manager and team president Ernie Grunfeld said the Wizards were hunting for options to possibly move up in Thursday’s NBA draft. Instead, he moved them out.
The Wizards acquired point guard Tim Frazier from the New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday night in exchange for the 52nd overall pick. Frazier will be the latest point guard to try and find a home behind four-time All-Star John Wall.
Washington only had the second-round pick this year. After trading it, the Wizards will not make a draft selection — at least as of now — for the second consecutive year.
In Frazier, the Wizards acquire a 6-foot-1 point guard who has a career offensive rating of 103 and defensive rating of 109 (that measures points scored by and against per 100 possessions).
“Tim has shown in his three seasons in the league, particularly during his time in New Orleans, that he can be a versatile, play-making point guard,” Grunfeld said in a statement. “He will be a good addition to our bench as a young player that we can continue to develop.”
The Wizards bench has not delivered a sustainable option behind Wall since he came into the league in 2010. Last season, Washington tried to get by with Trey Burke, who was acquired for a second-round pick, Tomas Satoransky, who was in the NBA for the first time after coming over from Europe, then, eventually, an ineffective Brandon Jennings. Wall averaged the second-most minutes of his career, 36.4, on his way to his best individual season. Multiple Boston Celtics players also concluded that Wall was out of steam in the second half of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Wizards and Celtics.
Frazier will be 27 years old when the season begins. He has played for three teams — New Orleans, Portland and Philadelphia — in his three seasons in the league since going undrafted out of Penn State in 2014.
Satoransky will be back in the mix for backup point guard minutes.
Washington has had one draft pick make its roster in the last four years. That’s Kelly Oubre, who was selected in the first round in 2015. That’s not necessarily a referendum on their use of the draft. Their first-round picks in the last four years have yielded two veteran starters, a young, up-and-down bench player and a rental for a playoff push.
The Wizards sent their 2014 first-round pick to Phoenix as part of the deal to acquire Marcin Gortat. They also traded a second-round pick that year for cash. The Los Angeles Lakers selected capable Jordan Clarkson with it.
In 2015, Washington moved up to select Oubre. The move cost the Wizards two future second-round picks. They used their 2015 second-round pick on Aaron White, who is currently playing in Europe.
Washington’s 2016 first-round pick was sent to Phoenix in the deal to acquire Markieff Morris. Its 2017 first-round pick (22 overall) was sent to Brooklyn to acquire Bojan Bogdanovic for the second half of the season and to get out from under Andrew Nicholson’s contract.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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