We interrupt the scouting of your favorite 2025 NBA draft prospects to bring you an important public service announcement: The Washington Wizards have the chance to make a killing on the trade market, and usher the Phoenix Suns into an entirely new era.
And they have the Bradley Beal trade to thank.
Phoenix’s 2026 first-round pick may be exchanged for Washington’s. It is also capable of doing the same in 2028 and 2030. The last two lottery tickets are intriguing. Who can predict where the Suns will stand going into the 2028 draft, which comes after the present contracts of Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant? By then, the Wizards should have improved significantly, opening the door for them to add a top-tier prospect (or trade asset) to a postseason contender.
Next year’s swap is a different story. The Suns are seemingly speeding toward nowhere, but they have zero incentive to be worse than the Wizards, who remain in the early stages of their rebuild. As of now, even if they trade Durant, even if they trade Booker, they’ll be looking to remain competitive.
That makes the swap expendable to Washington—but worth a whole lot to Phoenix itself.
A small ransom can be obtained by the Wizards for this exchange.
Phoenix will be able to take a year off and focus on boosting draft-lottery odds before readjusting for next summer if the Wizards return their 2026 trade to the Suns. The Suns should pay appropriately for this flexibility.
How much Washington can hope to get for that swap is debatable. It should be a lot. Consider the following construction:
Grabbing No. 29 this year, and another first likely to land inside the bottom 10 a few years from now may not seem like much. But the Wizards are receiving two guaranteed firsts for a swap they almost assuredly will not be exercising. That’s the equivalent of a coup.
Keep in mind that Phoenix won’t be all that horrible unless it gets this choice. Therefore, Washington won’t be giving up a top-10 pick.
The Suns can give Washington even more.
This path should be so enticing to the Suns that the Wizards may be able to get more. Would Phoenix include Oso Igohodaro? What about Ryan Dunn? Conventional wisdom suggests no. But the chance to tank for a top-end 2026 first-round prospect is arguably can’t-miss relative to the Suns’ current situation.
Washington can also expand the deal to take back actual money from Phoenix, which remains trapped in second-apron purgatory. Royce O’Neale, for instance, fits into the Wizards’ non-taxpayer mid-level exception, and is someone they can reroute for additional value.
There are other larger-time scenarios at play. If Washington is prepared to return Grayson Allen and at a lower price, will the Suns add even another first? Even though it would be ridiculous, Phoenix might still try to have a shot at an elite talent in the 2026 lottery.
Finally, the Wizards’ leverage only increases if the Suns move Durant (or Booker) to the Houston Rockets in exchange for their own 2027 first. Snagging that pick only makes going after 2026 even more enticing, since it gives Phoenix a two-year window in which to tank its heart out. Either way, the idea of moving KD (and Booker) at all becomes far more palatable if you’re controlling at least your next draft pick.
It’s not a given the Suns explore this course of action. But given their alternative, remaining stranded in the middle of nowhere, they absolutely should. And if they do, the Wizards are in position to capitalize at a stark premium that significantly beefs up their own collection of picks and prospects, while potentially throwing the entire NBA landscape for a whirl.