The Washington Wizards may have trade interest in Garrett Temple from the Utah Jazz after Dante Exum came suffered an ACL injury and now the sides could look at a deal and this comes as the Wiz likely will not be trading Nene after Kevin Seraphin signed with the Knicks, while Kevin Durant remains the main free agent target for DC in the summer of 2016.
The Wizards have some depth at point guard with John Wall and Ramon Sessions on the roster and they could try and move Temple for a piece or a pick. According to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News, the Jazz are looking to trade for a point guard that will not cost the team too much and the report says that the team is "interested in pursuing a trade" for Temple with the Wizards. The report adds that Jazz coach Quin Snyder is "pushing" the team to make the trade, as they have a connection back to when they both were with the Spurs.
Temple is 29 and he isn't getting extended minutes in DC unless Wall gets injured and that could give Washington the chance to make a move. The Jazz want to add at least one point guard to the mix with Trey Burke after Exum went down and Temple could be the fit. Temple is not signed into next season and will be a free agent and there is a chance the Wizards would not have signed him back anyway with the pursuit of Durant coming up.
The Wizards reportedly shopped Nene in trades this summer, but CSN Washington reports that he likely will be with the team this season after Kevin Seraphin and David West signed elsewhere. The Wizards still have Durant as the top priority and there is a chance the team could shop Nene this season. Last season Nene averaged 11 points and five rebounds per game and he still is a fairly productive player at 32 and could be a chip for Washington on an expiring contract.
Temple opted into his deal for this season and according to Rotoworld, Temple and Exum are "similar" players on the defensive end and that could be a good option for transitioning with Exum out. According to ESPN.com, Exum was diagnosed with a torn ACL while playing for the Australian national team. Exum had a solid rookie season with the Jazz and he was expected to be the starter for the team this season.
Temple comes in after playing in 52 games last season and he averaged just under four pots per game with 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists for Washington. Exum could miss the entire season based on his timetable for recovery and if the team adds Temple he could compete with Burke and Bryce Cotton for minutes on the depth charity. The Jazz feel they are on the upswing and they had high expectations for Exum this season. The team has players like Derrick Favors, Alec Burks and Gordon Hayward along with Burke and the newly drafted Trey Lyles and they could make some noise in the west this season.
