The Wizards have engaged in trade discusions with multiple teams about potential deals that would include forward Rui Hachimura, according to Shams Charania and Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
While Charania and Robbins don’t offer specifics on which teams have talked to Washington about Hachimura, The Athletic’s duo says the 24-year-old has drawn interest from “several Western Conference teams in need of scoring.” The Suns are one team that fits that bill and have been previously linked to Hachimura.
Another Wizards forward, Kyle Kuzma, continues to generate interest around the league, but Washington values him highly and would like to hang onto him, per Charania and Robbins.
Kuzma, Hachimura, and Kristaps Porzingis are all eligible for free agency during the 2023 offseason, so if the Wizards were to trade Hachimura, it would put them in a better position to focus on bringing back the other two. It may also signal a level of confidence in their ability to re-sign Kuzma, The Athletic’s reporters note, since trading Hachimura and then losing Kuzma in free agency would significantly deplete the club’s forward depth.
The ninth overall pick in the 2019 draft, Hachimura has missed some time due to injury this season, but has played well when available, averaging 12.9 PPG and 4.4 RPG on .492/.346/.768 shooting in 28 games (24.2 MPG). He’s earning approximately $6.26MM this season and will become a restricted free agent in July, assuming his team issues a qualifying offer that will likely be worth about $7.74MM.