The Washington Wizards will get Trevor Ariza after all. Washington sends Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers to the Phoenix Suns for Ariza, according Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Wizards and Suns had a three-team deal set late Friday night involving the Memphis Grizzlies. But confusion over which Brooks player Memphis was including in the deal nixed the trade. Memphis thought they were sending MarShon Brooks, however both the Wizards and Suns were under the impression Dillion Brooks was part of the trade. Oubre would have went to the Grizzlies instead.
After the trade was dead, Washington and Phoenix worked together to get a deal done ultimately settling with both Rivers and Oubre heading to Phoenix without a third team involved.
Washington acquired Rivers in a trade this summer with the Los Angeles Clippers. However, he did not find his footing behind John Wall and Bradley Beal. At times he seemed frustrated within the offense, averaging 7.2 points per game while shooting 31.1 percent from three — both his lowest since the 2014-15 season.
Oubre is set to be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2019. Despite having a career year averaging 12.9 points with his rookie contract set to expire at season end, and Washington having three max contracts, Oubre was with the Wizards on borrowed time.
Ariza signed a one-year deal worth $15 million with the Suns this summer, but with the team struggling with the worst-record in the NBA, Phoenix was willing to move the veteran to a better situation. While Ariza preferred his hometown Los Angeles Lakers, a deal between the Suns and Lakers never materialized.
Instead Ariza will head back to the team he starred with, the Wizards. In his second of two years in his previous stint, he averaged 14.4 points per game and shot a career-high 40.7 percent from three in 2013-14.
