Wizards expected to trade notable former top-5 pick

The Washington Wizards are ready to let the buyer’s remorse jokes fly.

Sean Deveney of Heavy.com reported this week that the Wizards are already expected to explore trading center Jonas Valanciunas when he first becomes eligible in December. The Wizards just gave Valanciunas a three-year, $30 million deal in free agency earlier this summer.

It might be puzzling to some that the Wizards are already looking to trade the former top-five pick Valanciunas before he has even played in a single game for them. But signing a coveted veteran through free agency and then eventually flipping him for multiple assets months later was probably the ideal strategy for Washington’s cap space all along.

Valanciunas, 32, is a nightly double-double threat (13.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for his career) and has expanded his range out to the three-point line in recent years as well. His trade market would be robust if the Wizards do indeed try to move him in the December-February window (before the trade deadline), and we already know of one prominent suitor that Valanciunas will likely have .

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