The NBA Trade rumors has hosted Ryan Anderson for the longest time but the New Orleans Pelicans are still holding onto him until the last minute.
Anderson is one of the league's prototype stretch fours as he is one of the better three-point shooters in the league. Thus, there are many teams that covet him but they have to take a risk as RyNo will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
This is probably why the Pelicans are keeping him at bay. They know that some playoff teams (or aspiring playoff teams) would desperately need Anderson's services in the post season. One such team is the Washington Wizards.
The Wizards have proclaimed themselves as the main challenger to grab Kevin Durant's services from the Oklahoma City Thunder and they were also hyped from last season's playoff run. But they turned out to be one of the season's biggest disappointments.
Thus, Basketball Insiders proposed that they may have to pay a steep price if they want to bid on Anderson and try to make the playoffs.
"The Washington Wizards have been fairly active in the march up the trade deadline and the guy to watch is forward Otto Porter Jr," BI's Steve Kyler said. "The Wizard like Porter a lot, but there is a sense that Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson could be obtained in trade, but that the cost could be Porter. At this point, there does not seem to be a deal; however, the Wizards are planning to make another run at several of the players they covet and and Porter could be the guy they have to move to make a deal."
Porter is their promising third year guard that is finally showing off his potential after an injury ravaged rookie season.
Kyler states that Porter might be a necessary sacrifice for the Wiz. "The Wizards have the ending contracts of veterans Alan Anderson and Jared Dudley, but at this point neither seems to be enough to make a deal happen."
Washington Wizards fan site Bullets Forever cautioned their team against giving up solid assets for Anderson.
"For as much as he might be able to do to make the Wizards better on the offensive end, there's no need for the Wizards to make a move now.," BF's Jake Whitacre wrote. "Washington can hold on to all their young players and still be in position to sign Ryan Anderson this summer, hopefully at a price that's a little more palatable than what he's hoping to get at the moment."
Washington cannot ask Anderson for any guarantees that he will stay with the team long-term so giving up Porter may haunt them later on. But if the Wizards really want to make a deep playoff run, they might pull the trigger.