NBA Rumors: Wizards Trading Otto Porter Jr. To Bulls For Jabari Parker And Bobby Portis, Per Shams Charania
In another major move leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline, the Washington Wizards reportedly agreed to trade small forward Otto Porter Jr. to the Chicago Bulls for a package featuring forwards Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis.
The trade was first reported on by the Athletic‘s Shams Charania, who took to Twitter on Wednesday to relate the specifics of the deal. While not mentioned on Charania’s original tweet, the Sporting News added that the Bulls will also be sending a future second-round pick to the Wizards as part of the trade.
As recapped by Yahoo Sports, Porter’s arrival in Chicago addresses the Bulls’ need for athleticism at the wing positions, as the team took advantage of his availability on the trade market despite the potential opportunities that await them in the 2019 offseason. Porter, who signed a four-year, $106.5 million contract extension with Washington in the summer of 2017, was averaging 12.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and two assists at the time of the reported trade.
Meanwhile, Parker’s move to the Wizards could allow the former No. 2 draft pick more opportunities to shine after a trade to his hometown team in the 2018 offseason led to mixed results. Despite starting out strong with the Bulls in the 2018-19 season, as noted by the Chicago Tribune, Parker was mostly removed from the rotation when the defensive-minded Jim Boylen took over from Fred Hoiberg in December as the Bulls’ head coach.
Despite sitting out several games for the Bulls due to the changes Boylen made to the team’s rotation, Parker still averaged 14.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 39 games.
Breaking: The Bulls have agreed to a trade to acquire Otto Porter from the Wizards for Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker (first reported by The Athletic, confirmed by ESPN).
The trade includes a 2023 second-round pick to the Wizards, a source tells @wojespn. pic.twitter.com/DhljWTObIu
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 7, 2019
Likewise, Portis looks to be wrapping up his tenure in Chicago with averages of 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in 22 games this season. According to Yahoo Sports, Portis was also deemed “expendable” by the Bulls due to the emergence of young big men Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr., though injuries to both allowed Portis to put up some good numbers as a fill-in starter.
The above trade comes on the heels of another high-profile transaction that took place with mere days remaining before the NBA’s trade deadline on Thursday. As reported on Wednesday by the Inquisitr, Los Angeles Clippers forward Tobias Harris was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in a deal involving six players and several future draft picks. The trade is expected to give the Sixers a “big four,” with Harris starting alongside Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Jimmy Butler, while also allowing the Clippers to free up salary cap space for potential max-contract free agent signings in the 2019 offseason.
