Less than 24 hours after having a trade meltdown, the Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards have finally come to an agreement. The Suns will send veteran wing Trevor Ariza to the Washington Wizards for point guard Austin Rivers and young wing Kelly Oubre Jr., according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wizards are trading Austin Rivers and Kelly Oubre to the Suns, league sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/GmbeUXzZT3
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 15, 2018
Just last night, a similar trade was in the 11th hour before falling apart infamously on Twitter. The Suns and Grizzlies miscommunicated on which “Brooks” was going to be involved in the deal: MarShon or Dillon. Memphis meant MarShon, Phoenix thought it was Dillon. The snafu was mocked on social media.
However, the sides were able to come to an agreement rather quickly. Phoenix had been searching for a point guard for several weeks, being linked to the Knicks and Frank Ntilikina and the Clippers with Patrick Beverley. Instead, they end up with veteran Austin Rivers.
Trevor Ariza signed with the Suns in the offseason, but was quickly thrust into trade talks – namely with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Wizards, seeking some veteran leadership to quell a locker room that nearly detonated, get Ariza instead.
Interestingly, the Suns also get back another young wing player to pair up with Josh Jackson and Mikal Bridges. The 23-year-old Oubre Jr. goes to Phoenix as part of the deal, a defensive-minded wing player who is averaging 12.9 points per game this season.
Unlike last night, the Grizzlies are not involved in the talks. They manage to keep both of the Brooks players on their roster.
