As we now sit just days away from the 2017 NBA Draft, we should begin to expect trades to come in full force. The Washington Wizards are going to be in search of some backup guard help this offseason as Brandon Jennings is scheduled to be a free agent and Trey Burke may be out the door as well so they have been one of the teams monitoring the guard market.
With their backcourt expected to take a toll this summer, Washington went out and acquired point guard Tim Frazier from the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for their 52nd overall pick. Following from Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders:
Source: New Orleans Pelicans guard Tim Frazier has been traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for the No. 52 pick.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) June 22, 2017
For Washington, the addition of Tim Frazier should provide a huge boost to a bench unit that was otherwise lifeless for the most part. Frazier has proven to be a quality spark off the bench and even performed admirably in a starter’s role when guard Jrue Holiday was sidelined at the beginning of last season. While losing the 52nd pick leaves the Wizards without a single pick in this year’s draft, they exchanged their picks for improved bench play in Bojan Bogdanovic midseason and now Frazier.
For the Pelicans, this makes their guard rotation thinner than it already was. Holiday is no guarantee to come back next season and the Pels are sorely lacking solid backcourt play to compliment their elite big man duo of DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis. Look for Frazier to play a prominent role in Washington’s rotation next season as the primary backup to all-star guard John Wall.
