It has been a disastrous season for the Washington Wizards. After narrowly losing to the Celtics 2 years ago in 7 games in the Playoffs the Wizards only made the first round last season and now don’t look like they will make the postseason at all this year.
Their current record of 12-20 does not reflect the level of talent they have on their roster. John Wall is an All-Star caliber player, Bradley Beal is an All-Star caliber player and Otto Porter Jr should have been reaching a near All-Star level at this point in his career.
For some reason, nothing is going right for the Wizards, and that’s a trend that been happening for many decades, mainly thanks to the ineptitude of Washington’s management. There have been a lot of really bad trades made by the Wizards of the decades that have contributed to their mediocre play and here are some of the worst.
Chris Webber
Before the start of the 1998/99 season, the Wizards decided to trade a 25-year-old Chris Webber to the Sacramento Kings for a 33-year-old Mitch Richmond. Richmond did average 23 points a game the previous season but was on the decline. Webber went on to average 23.5 points and 10.6 rebounds in 7 seasons with the Kings.
May 14, 1998: Traded by the Washington Wizards to the Sacramento Kings for Mitch Richmond and Otis Thorpe.
Rasheed Wallace
Sheed was a great player in the late 90s and early 2000s. He was a terrific shooter for a big which was a rarity at that time. He was a key for the Pistons when they won their 2004 title and averaged 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds a game for his career.
The Wizards traded him for Rod Strickland who was starting his decline and would only remain with the Wizards for 4 whole seasons.
July 15, 1996: Traded by the Washington Bullets with Mitchell Butler to the Portland Trail Blazers for Harvey Grant and Rod Strickland.
Ben Wallace
Another player the Wizards missed out on that helped the Pistons win it all in 2004 was Big Ben Wallace. Wallace was a 4 time defensive player of the year and single-handedly took out Shaquille in that epic Finals Series in 04.
The Wizards traded him for Ike Austin who I’m sure not many of you have ever heard of.
August 11, 1999: Traded by the Washington Wizards with Terry Davis, Tim Legler, and Jeff McInnis to the Orlando Magic for Isaac Austin.
Rip Hamilton
Man, I swear basically the entire 04 Piston starting lineup came from Washington. Richard “Rip” Hamilton was traded at 24 for Jerry Stackhouse aged 28. Stackhouse had averaged 29.8 points a game 2 seasons prior but only lasted 2 years with Washington.
Man, maybe the Wizards could have won a title if they kept Sheed, Ben, and Rip Hamilton.
September 11, 2002: Traded by the Washington Wizards with Hubert Davis and Bobby Simmons to the Detroit Pistons for Brian Cardinal, Jerry Stackhouse and Ratko Varda.
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Kelly Oubre
In a desperate attempt to salvage their season the Wizards just traded away two young guards for an aging Trevor Ariza. Ariza did play for the Wizards before and was really good for them but Washington let him go in free agency.
https://twitter.com/DCBarno/status/1073794607484411905
This move might make the Wizards slightly better but I don’t think they will make the Playoffs. I hope Oubre manages to flourish now that he’s not shackled by the curse that seems to have infected the Wizards.
December 17, 2018: Traded by the Washington Wizards with Austin Rivers to the Phoenix Suns for Trevor Ariza.
