6:15pm: The trade is official, according to a Wizards press release. The Suns have to waive a player to complete the deal, but it appears we may need to wait for their announcement to confirm who will be the odd man out in Phoenix.
1:32pm: Wizards reserve guard Aaron Holiday is being sent to the Suns, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM tweets that the Suns are trading cash considerations to the Wizards and will be paying Holiday’s $4.0MM contract via the disabled player trade exception they received due to power forward Dario Saric‘s ACL tear.
The Wizards appear to be open for business today, with star guard Bradley Beal now on the sidelines for the rest of the season due to a wrist injury. Washington is completely reshaping its roster, having also sent out guard Spencer Dinwiddie and power forward Davis Bertans to the Mavericks in exchange for former All-Star big man Kristaps Porzingis and some draft considerations.
Additionally, Washington is sending out reserve big man Montrezl Harrell to the Hornets. As part of the return package in the Harrell exchange, Washington is receiving backup guard Ish Smith, making Holiday expendable.
Phoenix, owner of the NBA’s best record at 44-10, is fairly stacked at the point guard position. The 6’0″ Holiday could compete with minutes as Chris Paul‘s backup with Cameron Payne (currently injured) and Elfrid Payton.
At 25, Holiday is the youngest member of a trio of brothers in the league. The Suns will be his third NBA club in four seasons. He is averaging 6.1 PPG on .467/.343/.800 shooting splits. The youngest Holiday is also notching 1.9 APG ad 1.6 RPG across 16.2 MPG thus far this year.