We interrupt the scouting of your favorite 2025 NBA draft prospects to bring you an important public service announcement: The Washington Wizards have the chance to make a killing on the trade market, and usher the Phoenix Suns into an entirely new era.
And they have the Bradley Beal trade to thank.
Washington has the right to swap its 2026 first-round pick with Phoenix’s own. It can do the same as well in 2028, and again in 2030. The latter two are interesting lottery tickets. Who knows where the Suns will be leading into the 2028 draft, which post-dates the current contracts of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal? The Wizards should be a lot better by then, leaving open the possibility that they add a high-end prospect (or trade asset) to a team contending for the playoffs.
Next year’s swap is a different story. The Suns are seemingly speeding toward nowhere, but they have zero incentive to be worse than the Wizards, who remain in the early stages of their rebuild. As of now, even if they trade Durant, even if they trade Booker, they’ll be looking to remain competitive.
That makes the swap expendable to Washington—but worth a whole lot to Phoenix itself.
The Wizards can get a small ransom for this swap
If the Wizards trade the Suns back their 2026 swap, it frees up Phoenix to enter a gap year, and prioritize juicing draft-lottery odds before recalibrating over next summer. That flexibility should be considered invaluable, and the Suns should pony up accordingly.
How much Washington can hope to get for that swap is debatable. It should be a lot. Consider the following construction:
Grabbing No. 29 this year, and another first likely to land inside the bottom 10 a few years from now may not seem like much. But the Wizards are receiving two guaranteed firsts for a swap they almost assuredly will not be exercising. That’s the equivalent of a coup.
Remember, Phoenix will only be really freaking bad if it has this pick. So Washington is not potentially dealing away a top-10 selection.
Washington can get even more from the Suns
This path should be so enticing to the Suns that the Wizards may be able to get more. Would Phoenix include Oso Igohodaro? What about Ryan Dunn? Conventional wisdom suggests no. But the chance to tank for a top-end 2026 first-round prospect is arguably can’t-miss relative to the Suns’ current situation.
Washington can also expand the deal to take back actual money from Phoenix, which remains trapped in second-apron purgatory. Royce O’Neale, for instance, fits into the Wizards’ non-taxpayer mid-level exception, and is someone they can reroute for additional value.
Bigger-time scenarios are in play, too. Would the Suns include yet another first if Washington is willing to take back Grayson Allen, and send out a cheaper deal? That would be absurd, and yet, not at all a no-go for Phoenix if it wants a bite at an elite prospect in the 2026 lottery..
Finally, the Wizards’ leverage only increases if the Suns move Durant (or Booker) to the Houston Rockets in exchange for their own 2027 first. Snagging that pick only makes going after 2026 even more enticing, since it gives Phoenix a two-year window in which to tank its heart out. Either way, the idea of moving KD (and Booker) at all becomes far more palatable if you're controlling at least your next draft pick.
It’s not a given the Suns explore this course of action. But given their alternative, remaining stranded in the middle of nowhere, they absolutely should. And if they do, the Wizards are in position to capitalize at a stark premium that significantly beefs up their own collection of picks and prospects, while potentially throwing the entire NBA landscape for a whirl.
Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to theHardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report'sGrant Hughes.