Chicago Bulls: Revisiting Otto Porter Jr.-Wizards trade 18 months later

Jabari Parker, Bobby Portis, Chicago Bulls (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
Jabari Parker, Bobby Portis, Chicago Bulls (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /
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Jabari Parker (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Jabari Parker (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

How it worked out for the Wizards

Since neither Portis nor Parker is still on the Wizards roster, the impact of this trade deal didn’t stem all that far into the future. The Wizards let Parker walk to the Atlanta Hawks in free agency last offseason and Portis wound up signing with the New York Knicks. Both are having more success with their current teams than they did with the Wizards.

In that regard, it seems like this trade deal worked out over the long haul for Portis and Parker. But it didn’t look to do all that much for the Wizards in terms of personnel additions. What it did allow the Wizards to do was sign valuable free agents like sharpshooting 6-foot-10 power forward Davis Bertans and hand out an extension to star shooting guard Bradley Beal.

Adding that extension to Beal was vital for the Wizards to keep their current core of stars in place. And while Bertans might be headed out the door this coming offseason, the Wizards might not be part of the NBA’s 22-team resumption plan, with games supposed to start on July 31 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL. The Wizards were the only team outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference to be part of the resumption plan.

Freeing up cap space looked to be the main task at hand for the Wizards when they dished out Porter Jr. to the Bulls. They didn’t want to continue with a core trio that included Beal, point guard John Wall, and OPJ. So this looks to be a move that could help them reach the direction anticipated entering last offseason.