BOSTON, MA - MARCH 14: Trae Young #3 of the Washington Wizards looks on during the game against the Boston Celtics on March 14, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - MARCH 14: Trae Young #3 of the Washington Wizards looks on during the game against the Boston Celtics on March 14, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Wizards spent the last three years as one of the worst teams in the league, and honestly it felt like that stretch was never going to end. They went 17-65 last season, but landed AJ Dybantsa with the No. 1 pick after already bringing in Trae Young and Anthony Davis. Suddenly, this roster has way too much established talent to keep thinking about another rebuilding year.
The Heat are in an even clearer spot after finally landing Giannis Antetokounmpo. Miami gave up Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, and a massive pile of picks to get Giannis and Bobby Portis. That created a ridiculous frontcourt with Giannis and Bam Adebayo, but it also stripped a lot of shot creation out of the roster.
Then you’ve got the Grizzlies, who went the complete opposite direction. They finished 25-57, traded Ja Morant for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, took Cameron Boozer at No. 3, and now sit with one of the youngest rosters in the league. Grant, Ty Jerome, and D’Angelo Russell are all okay NBA players, but none of them really belong on the next good Memphis team.
That setup basically hands us a fun three-team idea.
The Mock Trade
Washington Wizards Receive: Jerami Grant
Miami Heat Receive: Ty Jerome, D’Angelo Russell
Memphis Grizzlies Receive: Nikola Jovic, Cam Whitmore, Bub Carrington, 2027 second-round pick (via Warriors or Suns), 2029 first-round pick (swap)
The money side is pretty easy to follow: Washington sends out Cam Whitmore ($5.4 million) and Bub Carrington ($4.9 million) for roughly $10.3 million total and brings back Grant at $34.2 million, so they add about $23.8 million in salary. Miami ships out Nikola Jovic and his $16.2 million deal while taking back Jerome at $9.2 million and Russell at $5.9 million, which actually saves them around a million. Memphis does the opposite and moves Grant, Jerome, and Russell for a combined $49.3 million and takes back Jovic, Whitmore, and Carrington at about $26.5 million, clearing roughly $22.8 million while also picking up the extra draft assets.
The Wizards Become A Scary Win-Now Team
At some point, Washington has to decide what it actually wants to be. Having Trae Young, Anthony Davis, and the No. 1 pick is a sign of contention. Young is expected to start a new four-year, $212 million deal; Davis is heading into the year hoping for a new contract; and Dybantsa is probably too good to waste his first couple of seasons on meaningless games.
Alex Sarr just put up 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in his second season, so there are already enough young pieces here that the Wizards don’t need to hang onto every single prospect. Jerami Grant makes sense as the veteran wing who can help them actually contend.
Grant posted 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists last season while shooting 45.3% from the field and 38.9% from three. He’s 32 and owed $34.2 million on an expiring deal, so nobody should pretend this is some sneaky value contract. Washington isn’t trading for value, though. They’re trading for a veteran who can drop 15 to 20 points on any given night and doesn’t need the ball in his hands the entire time.
A starting five of Young, Dybantsa, Grant, Davis, and Sarr would make the Wizards massive at four positions. Grant can handle the tougher forward assignments, Davis can clean up mistakes around the rim, and Dybantsa wouldn’t have to guard the best wing on every team at 19 years old. The current projected starters are Young, Dybantsa, Kyshawn George, Davis, and Sarr, so Grant basically upgrades the George spot without forcing Washington to move one of its main young pieces.
The cost isn’t free. Bub Carrington is only 21 and just finished with 10.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists while shooting 40.8% from three. That’s exactly the kind of young guard rebuilding teams usually want to keep. Cam Whitmore is only 22 as well, even if he’s not in the rotation plans anymore following 21 games where he averaged 9.2 points and 2.8 rebounds.
But that’s the whole point of changing timelines. Washington can’t keep collecting young players forever while paying Young and Davis to try winning now. Carrington and Whitmore are good, but Dybantsa, Sarr, Tre Johnson, and Bilal Coulibaly already give them enough youth to survive giving some of it away.
The Heat Get The Bench Scoring They Need
This is probably my favorite part of the whole idea. The Heat were already a weird team last year at 43-39 and 10th in the East, even though they ranked second in scoring at 120.9 points per game and fifth in assists at 29.0. Then they traded Herro and a bunch of young pieces for Giannis, so the top of the roster got a lot more talented while the perimeter got thinner.
Ty Jerome would fix a big chunk of that right away. He only played 15 games last season, but the numbers were kind of ridiculous (19.7 points, 5.7 assists, and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 42.0% from three) for that stretch. Nobody should expect him to keep that up over 82 games, but even 70% of that production would make him one of the better bench guards in the league.
And he fits this roster way better than Nikola Jovic does right now, as Miami already has Giannis, Bam, and Bobby Portis eating most of the important frontcourt minutes. Jovic, meanwhile, had a rough fourth season with just 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while shooting 36.6% from the field and 26.9% from three.
So instead of keeping a 23-year-old forward whose path to minutes just got a lot harder, Miami turns him into a guard who can score, pass, and shoot. D’Angelo Russell is basically the extra piece. His 2025-26 season was bad (10.2 points and 4.0 assists on 29.5% from three in 26 games), but he’s only making $5.9 million and might even get cut or just grab a tiny role.
The 2029 first-round pick swap stings a little, especially after Miami already emptied a huge part of its draft stockpile for Giannis. But that’s what happens once a team goes all-in. Giannis is 31, Bam is 29, and the window isn’t five years away. Miami needs guys who help right now.
The Grizzlies Push All Their Chips To The Future
Trading Ja Morant was basically the moment the competitive version of this team died. The Grizzlies went 25-57 with the 23rd-ranked offense and 27th-ranked defense, then were even worse after the All-Star break with a -12.8 net rating. A few months later, Morant is gone, Cameron Boozer arrived with the No. 3 pick, and there’s a new era brewing.
So why keep Grant, Jerome, and Russell? Grant only got to Memphis in the Morant deal at the end of June and is already 32. Russell is 30. Jerome is 29 and coming off an injury-riddled season, which actually makes this the perfect time to sell high after a great 15-game sample.
Bub Carrington is the best asset of the return in this mock. A 21-year-old point guard shooting 40.8% from three and handing out 4.6 assists is exactly the kind of player worth testing for a couple of years. Jovic is 23 and under contract for four more seasons, and Whitmore is 22 and has already shown he can score in limited minutes.
Then you add another second-round pick and a 2029 first-round pick swap, and suddenly, the Grizzlies could walk into camp with Boozer, Carrington, Jovic, Whitmore, Edey, Jaylen Wells, GG Jackson, Cedric Coward, and a bunch of other young guys all fighting for minutes.
Who Says No?
The Wizards would probably think about it the longest. Carrington is a nice young guard, and Grant’s contract is just a massive commitment. But after adding Young, Davis, and Dybantsa in such a short stretch, staying stuck halfway between rebuilding and competing starts to make less sense than just going for it.
For the Heat, I’d do this pretty quickly. Jovic became a lot more expendable after the Giannis trade, and Jerome could legitimately be their sixth man from day one. Russell isn’t the reason to make the deal, but at $5.9 million, I think he can just hang around as an experienced ball-handler here and there.
The Grizzlies might be the biggest long-term winner. They turn three veterans who don’t fit the timeline into Carrington, Jovic, Whitmore, and two extra draft assets while cutting a ton of salary. The Grizzlies already chose the rebuild, so they might as well go all the way with it.