After Washington Wizards guard John Wall openly expressed the team’s need to add some bench help, the team obliged their All-Star’s wishes, acquiring forward Bojan Bogdanovic from the Brooklyn Nets. In exchange, the Brooklyn Nets will get the Wizards 2017 lottery-protected first round pick, Andrew Nicholson, and Marcus Thornton.
As noted by The Vertical, the Washington Wizards, who have struggled to get consistent production from their bench all season, get a proven contributor in Bojan Bogdanovic. The 27-year-old is averaging 14.2 points and 6.2 rebounds in 55 games this season for the Brooklyn Nets. The Vertical also points out that by clearing Nicholson and Thornton’s contracts, they will have added cap space needed to re-sign Otto Porter this coming offseason.
For their part, the Brooklyn Nets now get two first round picks in what is expected to be a deep 2017 draft. Due to a previous deal, they will swap their own pick with the Boston Celtics and add the recent first round pick they got from the Washington Wizards. Both picks are expected to be in the 20s, with the Celtics currently placing second in the East, with the Wizards trailing them in third.
Meanwhile, another Eastern Conference playoff contender added some bench help as the Atlanta Hawks acquired forward Ersan Ilyasova from the Philadelphia 76ers. In exchange, the Hawks sent injured center Tiago Splitter. As noted by the Associated Press, Philadelphia also gets a protected second round pick from Atlanta and the right to swap another second round pick with the Hawks.
“He’s a high character, proven veteran who we’ve liked for many years and believe fits well within our system,” Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. The Hawks, who like to play with space and shoot the three will be getting a player shooting 35.5 percent from deep this season. Ersan Ilyasova currently has season averages of 14.3 points and 5.9 rebounds.
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