nba
[Charania] The Washington Wizards are trading Kelly Olynyk to the San Antonio Spurs for Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley and a 2026 second-round pick (least favorable of Dallas, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City), sources tell ESPN.
![[Charania] The Washington Wizards are trading Kelly Olynyk to the San Antonio Spurs for Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley and a 2026 second-round pick (least favorable of Dallas, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City), sources tell ESPN.](https://external-preview.redd.it/EsNqB48o34Tz6BuwjLpDYSBVhS_qZXVDzkIHp08vcHI.png?auto=webp&s=cca02b4a0e017bf17353021cefb558807c43f1ab)
Shams Charania:
The Washington Wizards are trading Kelly Olynyk to the San Antonio Spurs for Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley and a 2026 second-round pick (least favorable of Dallas, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City), sources tell ESPN.
https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/91a5a66cb72ef
Discussion
If you told me that Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley were Wizards Id ask what Harry Potter book you were talking about
Just wait until Washington trades for Roonil Wazlib.
That’s what my friends call me
I know what a nickname is
this spoken incantation has stunned your opponent
The worst part of the wizards were the dementors
I thought it was the hypocrisy
You’d be da belle of da ball!
That’s legitimately one of the funniest comments I’ve read on reddit in the 13 years I’ve been on here
Goddamn this is good
Malaki Branham, a quiet Ravenclaw with a gift for prophetic dreams and cursed runes
Blake Wesley, cousin of the Weasleys, transferred from Ilvermorny to study defensive magic under McGonagall
Malaki has no interest or talent in defense against the dark arts however
Lol goddamn
Sometimes I wish Reddit gold still existed
Hahahahahah
Wizards fanbase can rest easy knowing that they don’t have to root for Olynyk
HELL YEA BROTHER BULLYING WORKS
Bring back bullying!
but seriously
Their sub’s reaction to the Olynyk trade was so funny
As fellow Mavs fans, could you provide a recap of WHY their reaction?
At the height of the Wall era, we had some beef with the Celtics. Olynyk was on that Celtics team and had several plays that bordered on dirty, and if I recall correctly, injured Kelly Oubre. This was right around the same time he basically ripped Kevin Love's arm out of its socket and ended his season, so it was more than just us disliking him for being a Celtic.
There's a little bit more to it as well: that Oubre incident also led to a scuffle between the two and occurred during a heated playoff game. He then proceeded to go on a random heater, later in the series, that basically ended the Wizards playoff run.
I like how they left out game 7 lol
That shit sucked. Gut wrenching loss especially after Wall's game winning 3 point shot in Game 6.
We were up at the half in Game 7, Celtics took the lead in the 3rd, and then Olynyk went nuclear in the 4th which buried us in the coffin and ruined any hope for our franchise lol. It was all downhill from there.
Fuck Olynyk!
If I'm being honest, I really just remember "fuck Kelly Olynyk" and the why is clearly blurry. I looked it up after I made the post and it all came flooding back
Can’t wait hurt Wemby if he’s on his team (seriously plz don’t)
He didn't injure Oubre, but he ragebaited Oubre into a shoving match that ended up with Oubre getting ejected then suspended.
Then he scored 27 pts in Game 7.
Forgot about that dirty ass play on Love.
The 2017 conf semi playoff series against the Celtics, he was the enforcer for six games and then went completely Jordan mode in Game 7.
2017 Celtics-Wizards ECSF Game 7
Game 7 ECF, 2017 Celtics vs Wiz. The IT Celtics versus the John Wall Wiz, right after an enourmous cluth shot by Wall during the game 6.
Kelly Olynyk came out of nowhere and had like a 27 point game to end the Wizards season.
I think the same series he was straight up attack by Kelly Oubre during a dead ball, who then got ejected.
yeah because of a dirty screen, I don't know about Wizards fans but I hate him for his dirty play more than playing well
What was the vibe like?
You know how every fanbase has that one particular opposing role player who's forever deemed public enemy #1? Guys like Pat Bev for Westbrook/Thunder fans or Zaza for the Spurs? Olynyk is that guy for the Wizards lol
Kyle Kuzma for the Magic for that one time he dissed the city of Orlando for no reason.
Does one really need a reason lol
Fuck Patrick Beverley
He is also that guy for the Cavs
And the Heat...
Mike Dunleavy for the Bucks
I completely forgot about that lol. Maybe the Warriors aren’t getting Giannis?
We were almost more upset about it than getting the 6th draft pick on lottery night
That one time he turned into Larry Bird was insane
Insanely fucked up, you mean.
Revolting.
It wasnt funny. Or like ok its been a long time since he did us wrong.
Nope.
People were more mad about this than the draft.
I watched every wizards game last season and love the direction we’re heading in.
That being said, if Olynyk played a single minute in a wizards uniform I would’ve denounced this team and stopped watching basketball
Imagine if the 92 Bulls traded for Bill Laimbeer or the Spurs traded for Zaza.
I’m genuinely curious as to what or who you are? You are in every nba thread while also jerking it to anime. What is your life beyond reddit? If any?
Wait I forgot why does Washington hate him?
2017 playoffs game 7 vs the Celtics
As a wizards fan I haven’t smiled since that day
That was the funeral game series right? Why was it so heated
I live in the DMV and went to one of those games in that series. Super fun, but its crazy to think that was their best (or top... 3?) season since 1980.
I searched up olynyk on r/nba and first result was a highlight vid posted 8 years ago of him going off against the wizards in g7 when he was a celtic
He fully stopped us from reaching the ecf in like 50 years and its been downhill ever since
I think him and Kelly Oubre used to get into it all the time too.
Many fans hate him because he is just a dirty player that has a history of intentionally injuring people. But Wizards fans in particular hate him because he randomly went off on us in game 7 of the conference semis.
For once in multiple decades Wizards fans had hope and optimism that we could be contenders in 2016-17 and he eliminated our ticket to the conference finals and that was the last meaningful game John Wall played in his prime before his series of injuries and the start of another despairing decade of our franchise. Oh and he is goofy looking.
Shhh, don't worry about it. Wizards fans are just celebrating.
didn’t he have like 30 points in game 7 against them or something crazy
Hallelujah!
I’m admittedly ignorant to the dealings of Washington, why is he so hated?
Wizards v Celtics 2017 round 2, game 7
Kelly Olynyk R2G7 Highlights vs Washington Wizards (26 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast)
The Spurs have a really nice frontcourt rotation now
Wemby/Sochan/Kornet/Olynyk
Thats just fun.
Edit: Harrison Barnes slander, if you dont mind him at the 4.
I’m confident that Wemby can put his arms around all 3 if he stands in the middle
Olynyk could lay the 4 instead
Maybe 5-6 years ago, but im skeptical about a 34 year old Kelly defending 4's on the wing. Did he start at the 4 in NOLA?
He cannot defend anyone lol
Yea he might have the worst lateral quickness in the nba lol
That's what Wemby's back there for. Olynyk can shoot 3's at 40% (some years), playmake and make passes, and try to draw charges. Wemby can rim protect for both of them.
To think we were playing with Biyombo as our only healthy center a few months ago lmao.
Branham just had to go, one of the worst defenders in the NBA if not the worst and dude has size/length
Wesley I liked to have as a 3rd string guard but wasn’t gonna be more than back up the way things were going
Branham has negative dawg in him. The dude was just not competitive at all when he was on the floor
Branham is one of those guys that's actually decent in 2k because he can hit 3s and if you're controlling him you can sort of correct for his BBIQ.
Then you watch him in game and it's yikes.
I can't stand KO but this is a really solid deal for the Spurs, we gave up basically nothing and got a guy who will probably put in 10-12 minutes for us.
Got that house cat in him
Don’t tell that to my cat. She defends this apartment to all enemies, foreign, domestic, and friendly.
Honestly for the best. I'm fully out on Malaki but I think Blake could potentially be something, at least defensively. But there's no way he was gonna get anymore minutes going forward. Good move for us all things considered.
Branham and Wesley finally off the Spurs
Used to pray for days like these
Are they cheeks? Haven’t heard of either one. Mainly just thankful I don’t have watch that clown play, wizards basketball is tough enough to watch without him
Have watched both a good amount. If you combined their games you’d have a pretty decent player but neither has really shown an ability to be a consistently good decision maker. Blake mainly on offense when he has the ball and Malaki was probably the worst defender in the league in Vic’s rookie year.
Edit: we got both in the same draft too and people felt pretty good about it at the time. Blake is from Notre Dame and is a high energy and very fast guard, Malaki is an Ohio State guy and has been a good shooter but is streaky
Blake actually showed some stuff. Wouldn’t be the worst 4th or 5th guard in the league. Branham is a bucket but nothing else.
Branham will be out of the league soon. Wesley at least plays hard, there may be a little hope for him.
In my 2k season Branham is the third best player on the team (after me and Wemby) just in case anyone wondered how realistic the game is
Eh I don’t play it anymore but I like that there’s some variance in each simulation, one out of every few hundred saves a guy like Branham should randomly be really good. But if he’s always like that then yeah classic 2k
Yeah when I simulate the Spurs Branham has a chance to blow up to an 87+ overall, but it's like 5-10%
Branham is legitimately one of the worst defenders in the entire league and his scoring could be mostly cold, rarely hot. A net negative overall.
Wesley is pretty much the opposite, a speed demon who's a pest on defense but can't shoot and he's too fast for his own good, often missing bunnies after blowing by his defender. I like him a lot more for his defensive potential and if he could at the very least learn to weaponize his speed better/finish at the rim, he'd be decent. He's also a great vibes guy on the bench.
Wesley can be a good 3rd string PG that hustles hard, defends and brings energy on the bench. Seems like a great teammate. Clueless in half court offense though and pretty much a non-shooter, to the point of looking scared to shoot.
Branham can score, but he gives up more on the other end. When his shot isn't falling he is one of the worst players in the league. If he can find some consistency then maybe you have a guy because he's crafty offensively.
Blake Wesley is the fastest mother fucker in the league , remember what I'm telling you
you guys may like Wesley but Branham is worse than a G Leaguer
Both were project players who are still pretty far off from being useful in a rotation.
Blake is fast as all hell and can get to the rim but can't finish once he's there. Started to be more of a pass first guy with a more in control dribble last summer, is getting slowly better on D, but still can't shoot and still can't finish.
What I liked about Branham on draft night was that he had a high arc on his shot and didn't need to create a lot of separation to get off a clean two. The 2pt shot creation never translated and the defense hasn't been good enough to justify giving him minutes. Threes are maybe ok but he doesn't take enough shots to matter.
Blake is great for locker room, fun Plauer who is SUPER FAST and plays decent to good defense. Cannot shoot to save his life and runs almost too fast to pull off easy buckets but he is 100% gas and 100% effort. You’ll love him so long as you don’t wanna win games haha
Branham looks like he can score if you watch him without tracking his makes but he struggled to do so efficiently for us and is an absolutely horrific defender
Wesley can defend very well but struggles to do anything outside of it, not a good playmaker, not a good passer and not a good shooter.
Malaki was a better scorer in year 1. I couldn’t tell you anything he’s really improved in it’s crazy.
Their ironically pull her opposite players who are both Fringe NBA Talent right now
Blake Wesley is quite literally one of the five or six fastest players in the entire NBA. Like not even being hyperbolic. Dynamic speed. And he's a very good man-to-man defender
But he's quite literally one of the worst offensive players in the league. There's absolutely nothing he does on offense that grades out as even League average. He can't finish, he can't shoot, he's not a great playmaker. All over the court. He's going to be a liability on that end.
And Malachi showed real potential as a rookie as a three-level self-creating score. Was dynamic in the pick and roll and could create and make mid-range jumpers Way beyond his age
But he never developed in any aspect on that sign, and defensively the last year he got real rotation minutes with us. He literally graded out as the worst defensive player in the NBA for most of the season. He's truly a special level of dreadful
Both have some hints of upside. But you guys have so many talented young prospects. I highly doubt either is going to get too much of a real shot. Because both of them need a whole lot of reps to work on there myriad of issues and I just don't see a team giving them those opportunities at this point.
I think Blake and Malachi both are out of the league in a year, and I wouldn't be surprised if Blake doesn't show back up in a few seasons after playing abroad once the game slows down for him
I still have some vague hopes that Blake might turn himself into a serviceable role player some day. He's a good defender, extremely fast and his passing has been looking a bit better recently. But he's awful at anything that involves putting the ball in the bucket. Figure the point guard version of a Temu Ben Simmons.
Branham is cheeks. Mediocre shooter, F tier defender and super bad vibes. Probably going to be playing in another league after this season if not sooner.
Both still 22 years old. There are Rookies from the latest Draft that are older than them. What is so bad about them?
Basically if you were to super glue them together you would have a great NBA player. Blake is an all hustle defensive guy that cant shoot but maybe run 3rd string PG for you and Malaki can shoot the ball but that is about it
The Wizards have about a quarter of the 2023-25 1st round picks on their team at this point
Bro was gonna get booed at every home game if he played with us this season by the dozen total Wizards fans that still go to games.
Sorry out of the loop, why do wizards fans hate him so much?
Our best chance to make it past the 2nd round got killed by him. True wizards fashion
The North (Wizards fans) Remembers. I appreciate the grudge
When the trade happened I texted my friend and told him are you ready to buy tickets to a game and hate on Olynyk. Luckily that won't happen. Instead I can get insanely cheap tickets instead to random Wednesday game for a team that might win 20 games lol, but root for the future.
Spurs won this trade simply because Malaki Branhamn and Blake Wesley are no longer on the team
Wizards actually won the trade because fuck Kelly Olynyk.
What did I miss about Kelly olynyk? Is it a personal thing to the wiz or him as a person?
He had a pretty big moment for the Celtics against the Wiz a few years ago
Like 8 or 9 years ago now. Stunted on the Wizards on a game 7.
Failed rookie are quite expensive. Great move for the Spurs, and it fills a need in the line up. Olynyk is probably gone next year, but he'll be pretty useful this season for them.
Spurs going all in wow
They gave up nothing of value
Come on the 60th pick could be anything
They seem to never do 😭
Yall got a million draft picks and SGA for PG13, yall pulling off heists too haha
Previous trades included Derrick White and Kawhi Leonard.
Didn't really have a choice with Leonard, tbf
You guys just won a ring because you fleeced the Clippers lololol
Neither did we lmao
I get that y'all dislike Kelly (for great reasons honestly) but he is a decent backup
i’m not all that on Wizards lore, why do they have a hate boner for Kelly?
other comments have handled this one but in the 2017 semis, Kelly Olynyk set a dirty screen on Kelly Oubre in game 3 and they got into it (aka Oubre went after him lol). Then after the Wall game winner in game 6, Olynyk went 10-14 for 26 points in game 7 to end our season and the only real shot we had of making a conference finals in most Wizards fans lives.
Damn I see, so it’s similar to Grant Williams game 7 (just assume Milwaukee didn’t win the championship the year prior) where a player you didn’t expect to go off, went off?
Also if Kelly never set that dirty screen in game 3, would yall still hate him that much?
Nah Kelly nice
I wouldnt call trading for olynyk as an all in type move lol
pretty sure that was sarcasm my guy
I thought it was… but wasn’t sure lol
7th team in 5 years for Kelly. Yeesh.
Great pickup for SA there. Spacing for Vic.
He was good for us last year, I was kinda sad he got traded.
Throughout that whole mess it was a relief to see a player that made the right play so often offensively
Kornet and Kelly. Cs fans two favorite white guys since Bird and Scal. Lotta Spurs fans will be from Boston this year
Spur gave the C's DW, they do right for their players. The FO's seem to respect each other.
White for whites
forgetting about greg stiemsma smh
Pritchard is Bostons favorite white boy, no question
The West just keeps on getting superstars....
Malaki Branham is finally off my team
Wonder who we waiving... lots of players on the roster
Defintely Branham, he's really bad.
Spurs now only have 16 tradeable 2nd round picks... Really emptying the cupboard.
I don’t know how much more longer I can keep my property on Branham island
That’s Florida swamp real estate
not often where we get a trade that has both teams saying “good, fuck those guys” while also somehow shaking hands at the same time lmao
Oh thank god, if I had to see Kelly play in a Wizards jersey I might have had a stroke
These new guys are also gonna give you a stroke.
If it leads to us losing, then im all for it.
you’re gonna hate branham the most even if he contributes to losing
It's been hilarious reading these comments from both sides since we just exchanges hated players for hated players.
Spurs fans don’t “hate” Branham, as he actually is a good person. But on the court he’s just a shit player unfortunately. He doesn’t even have an offensive bag or any BBIQ to make up for his lack of defense like say Ant Simons or 40yo CP3 for example
He also pouts and hangs his head and drops his shoulders and shows some of the worst body language I've ever seen from a player. Not in an angry way and he's not a bad teammate but he just has no confidence or mental toughness.
wesley has potential, branham on the other hand...
I love how every other post here says [Player A] is trash, [Player B] has potential” but the posts are near equally split on which of Wesley and Branham is each.
Neither of them will see the court and if they do it'll be late in the season when it doesn't matter
Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley off my team, dreams do come true
Spurs have a lot of trade assets. Especially draft picks.
It will be interesting how will they build around Wemby.
Safest bet is to keep developing the core without doing much. Sochan, Castle, and Harper seem like great long term pieces but time is still needed to have a better understanding of what the end product will be. Keldon will be gone for sure soon and Vassell is still a question mark. Good thing is that there is no awful contract or player which is a luxury.
Damn that’s a great get for the Spurs
Great move for the Spurs - if Castle, Wemby take jumps + Harper is legit as a rookie, they are easily contenders this year…. Yes I know that’s a list of things that need to go right, as does 90% of contenders
2nd round picks are being treated like NFTs in 2021. No one knows why they’re so valuable and rich people keep trying to convince us they’re worth something.
League fucked
Damn that's actually a pretty good trade for both parties. Wizards get two more low-risk low cost rolls of the dice on young Talent. Spurs ad the kind of offensively flexible piece their front court really needs. He can probably play minutes alongside both Kormet or Vic.
I think Blake Wesley will be a player one day. He's quite literally one of the worst offensive players in the NBA but defensively there's something there and the kid has truly dynamic speed. But with the addition of Harper... Good luck. Trying to find minutes in that Spurs back court moving forward. Fox, harper, Castle is too much talent and potential
Malachi is a confusing one. He had a fringe ceal case for all rookie second team his rookie year. He showed real self-creating three level scoring potential... And he's just absolutely hit a wall ever since. His defenses atrocious and he can really be insanely inconsistent on the offensive end..
But if the wizards need a young guy to put up some shots he can definitely do that for them
They did this for Kelly’s safety ngl
I was gonna buy courtside seats just to heckle Olynyk
Fuck Kelly Olynyk
Fuck Kelly Olynyk
Fuck Kelly Olynyk
Fuck Kelly Olynyk
Fuck Kelly Olynyk
Good trade for the spurs to clear a roster spot and get another playable big
Kelly is out of Wizard Jail
Branham is a bum but Wesley is a bum that tries super hard and improved some over the last season. I don't have hopes of them ever being more than good third stringers but good luck to them.
Olynyk should be a pretty good third big for us
Wizards have the strangest roster right now
They’ve got a solid mix of vets to keep things professional while showing their young guys the way. They need to get lucky in the lottery but they’re doing the rest well.
Whatever it takes to keep that 2026 1st, baby. Top 8 protected, we can’t afford to win more than maybe 23 games. Young guys make me a little worried that they could scrape a few wins here and there, but overall I don’t think we’ll have a problem ending up in the low 20s or less
He was never welcome in DC anyways 👋
I’m ootl, why did they hate him?
He basically single handedly ended their greatestvseason of the last like the last 50 years
The Kelly Olynk game in 2017 I think?
Wondering the same thing
This changes everything
Wizards training camp is going to be a blood bath
Man I feel bad for Olynyk. Dude has been moved like 10 times this year it seems
Though the Spurs is a hell of a landing spot if he gets to stay
Funny that both fanbases are happy because all of the players involved are ass
Sure why not
so like the 59th pick most likely
Another sole veteran for the spurs I will take it
Give us all your wings
It was necessary, neither have done much for the Spurs. I like them on the team. But it is a business. Good luck to them, I hope Wesley figures out a role.
TIL Olynyk is still in the league.
We did it, we got our man. Sorry say it's over for all you loser franchises who don't have a Kelly Olynyk on your team.
Rip to the guard core of Branham, Wesley & Primo
The three stooges. (Although I do have a soft spot for Blake and think he has a future in the NBA as a long-term third stringer). Branham may not get another NBA contract though.
Blake is a dog. There are absolutely minutes out there for him in the future in a PatBev type of role at worst.
Edit: not to mention Blake is way more athletic than Pat ever was. One of the fastest guys in the league. He just needs to learn ro control it.
God reading this sentence sent a chill up my spine
Seemed like they drafted an upperclassmen guard every year for a decade in a row.
The dark days. Sailing the Pacific without a compass back then.