Will Barton, Monte Morris trade grades: Who won the Nuggets and Wizards deal?

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Wizards grade: A

This is a cool move for the Wizards.

They brought Will Barton to play for the franchise nearest his hometown. Barton will reunite with Wizards coach and fellow Baltimore native Wes Unseld Jr., who was an assistant for Barton with the Nuggets from 2015 until 2021.

Unseld has called Barton the “X-factor” and Barton has had high praise for the coach (via PressBoxOnline)

“[The Wizards] are getting a great coach, man — not just a great coach but an even better human being, a guy that has morals and values,” Barton said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 27. “He’s going to do a lot of teaching there. A great leader, someone they’re going to get behind. It’s going to be easy for those guys to rally behind him.”

I also like the move for the Wizards because they landed Monte Morris, a guard who I’m personally much higher on than consensus opinion.

Morris is an efficient three-level scorer with a low turnover percentage. He isn’t going to beat his man off the dribble or create his own shot very often. But the Wizards already have a ball-dominant player in Beal.

I don’t like the idea of Beal as a point guard, but I do like the idea of him playing alongside someone like Morris. The more I think about this trade, honestly, the more excited I get.