A day after the trade that sent Roy Hachimura from Washington to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks, Wizards general manager Tommy Shepard explained tonight (between Tuesday and Wednesday) what was behind the decision to part with the player selected ninth in the 2019 draft .
“We had a load in the forward positions and we wanted to make room for Danny to get more minutes,” he said Shepherd. “That reason was a big part behind the trade. Hachimura was fantastic this season, he did a great job, but when we decided to make Daniel Gafford a five player next to Kristaps Porzingis the rotation changed.”
“Danny got less and less minutes, and in our view he is a big part of the future here. He is one of our best guards and one of the best pick’n’roll guards in the league. Anytime you trade a player it is a difficult decision, but the choices we made are important for the future of the Wizards and Nunn has proven that he can provide points Quickly. When we looked at what we really need – we realized that the answer is more opportunities and responsibility for Danny.”
“When we really looked at what we needed was to get Deni more responsibility, more opportunity to play.”
– @WashWizards GM Tommy Sheppard on recent trade with Lakers. pic.twitter.com/gbBDjPznJU
— NBC Sports Wizards (@NBCSWizards) January 25, 2023