Wizards Send Gortat to Clippers; Austin Rivers Heads to DC
The Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to a deal that would send C Marcin Gortat to LA and G Austin Rivers to DC, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Los Angeles Clippers are trading guard Austin Rivers to the Washington Wizards for center Marcin Gortat, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2018
This departure of Gortat is relatively unsurprising, as rumblings of his position on the trading block have been rolling around the entire offseason, particularly after there was alleged drama in the locker room between Gortat and star guard John Wall during the season.
In 2017-2018, Gortat averaged 8.4 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 1.8 APG. Rivers averaged 15.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 4.0 APG.
Rivers was previously working under his father, Doc Rivers, the head coach of the Clippers. This trade ends the first ever such relationship between a coach and player in NBA history.
Both Gortat and Rivers are entering the final year of their contract, and will become free agents next offseason, unless signed to deals before then.
