The Washington Wizards were expected to stay active ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, and so far, they’ve stayed true to these expectations.
General manager Will Dawkins kicked things off on Thursday by making a deal to land another veteran presence in exchange for a young playmaker that has shown flashes throughout his time in Washington this year.
The Wizards agreed to trade Jared Butler and four-second round picks (2027, 2028, two in 2030) to the Philadelphia 76ers for Reggie Jackson and a 2026 first-round pick.
The first-round pick that Washington is receiving will the the least favorable of first-rounder that Philly holds from the LA Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets.
This move marks the third deadline deal that the Wizards have made in the last 24 hours. Prior to the deal to send Butler to the 76ers, Washington has dealt Kyle Kuzma and Patrick Baldwin Jr. to an Eastern Conference contender in the Milwaukee Bucks and Jonas Valanciunas to the Sacramento Kings.
As the Wizards continue to overhaul their young roster and ship out veterans to essentially bring in more, it will be interesting to see what Washington does over the course of the next five hours as they field calls for what players they still have left to offer.
Nonetheless, here’s a look on the young player that Washington gave up on in the deal.
More about Jared Butler
Jared Butler ended his time in Washington averaging 6.9 points, 2.6 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 32 games this season. Although the stats aren’t flashy, the 24-year-old guard put together multiple impressive performances over the course of the season, especially when Brian Keefe’s squad dealt with a rough stretch of injuries over the last couple of months.
Ironically, Butler’s best game of his career came less than a month ago against the Sixers when he finished the game with 26 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds, while knocking down 11/19 field goal attempts including shooting 100% on all three of his attempts beyond the arc.
With the Wizards navigating their future, it seemed doubtful that Butler would have ever gotten a chance to find a prominent role in Washington, especially considering the team’s loaded backcourt. Now, he moves on to Philadelphia where he could quickly find minutes considering the Sixers were inclined to give up a future first-round pick in return.
The NBA trade deadline is on Thursday at 3 PM ET.
Update: The Wizards will look to reroute Jackson before the deadline. If no other trade presents itself, Jackson will likely be waived.
