Deandre Ayton trade grades: Who won Wizards and Lakers deal?
· Yahoo Sports
You had to know some kind of Deandre Ayton move was coming after the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Walker Kessler, thereby giving them a solid defensive big man in the middle. And here it is! The former first overall pick -- who averaged 12.5 ppg on 67.1 percent from the field to go with eight boards a game -- is a Washington Wizard now.
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Does this mean the Wizards could trade a certain other big man in Anthony Davis? Not sure if that's in the cards off of this one, but we'll focus on the trade itself with the details of the deal along with grades for each of the teams involved.
Wizards and Lakers trade details
Wizards get: C Deandre Ayton
Lakers get: G Haden Hardy, a 2031 second-round pick and a 2032 second-round pick
Wizards trade grade
Eh? Meh? I dunno. Ayton has a player option for just $8.1 million next season that he exercised, so this is basically dealing for an expiring contract. The Wizards have all kinds of stuff going on with their roster in many good ways, so my guess is this is to get some cap space next offseason.
That said, maybe he's an offensive big man off the bench to spell Alex Sarr and Anthony Davis. Will it work? Does it matter as the Wizards rebuild? Shrug! GRADE: C+
Lakers trade grade
I guess I'll say this: To get SOMETHING for Ayton is good? They get some draft picks, which is great considering they've traded a lot of them. And Hardy totaled 12.6 ppg last year and hit 42 percent of his threes. Not bad! GRADE: B
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Deandre Ayton trade grades: Who won Wizards and Lakers deal?