The Washington Wizards’ busy Thursday night continued into the back half of the NBA Draft’s first round.
Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Washington is trading the No. 22 overall pick, Isaiah Jackson, to the Pacers for Aaron Holiday and the No. 31 overall pick (which Indiana traded up to earlier in the night, sending Milwaukee the 54th and 60th picks on Thursday as well as two future second-round picks. The No. 22 was already acquired by the Wizards early in the evening in the reported Russell Westbrook trade.
Wizards will receive No. 31 — along with Aaron Holiday — from Indiana too, sources said. https://t.co/C1133bFQB2
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 30, 2021
This feels like a win for the Wizards. Holiday is a capable backup guard and probably will be used to fill some of the minutes made available in Westbrook’s wake. And in getting No. 31, they can still add another player to their rookie class that already includes Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert. After moving off of Westbrook, this is good initial work and retooling around Bradley Beal.
For the Pacers, however, this is a bit confusing in the moment. This team already has Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis starting in the frontcourt and former first round pick Goga Bitadze coming off the bench. Jackson is a 6’10” power forward who just adds another frontcourt body to feed. For a team that already had a lot of size, it feels odd to give up a draft pick and a serviceable point guard to add another big. While there’s yet to be significant buzz about them trading one of their current bigs — with Turner seeming like the most likely to be moved — one has to think that’s on the horizon after this selection.