Shabazz Napier Reportedly Traded from Nuggets to Wizards for Jordan McRae

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Amid a frantic final stretch before the NBA trade deadline Thursday, the Washington Wizards sent Jordan McRae to the Denver Nuggets for Shabazz Napier, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

McRae is averaging 12.8 points and shooting 37.7 percent from beyond the arc through 29 games this season.

Napier has appeared in 36 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging 9.6 points and 5.2 assists. He moved from Minnesota to Denver in Wednesday's four-team trade headlined by Robert Covington and Clint Capela, per Wojnarowski.

Napier will fill the void left by Isaiah Thomas in the nation's capital. Wojnarowski reported the Wizards traded Thomas to the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday in a three-team deal that included the New York Knicks.

Washington is treading water until John Wall returns from his Achilles injury and sits four games out of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Napier is an upgrade over Thomas and might help move the needle slightly toward improving the Wizards. If not, he's a free agent in the offseason, so the team can move on without having sacrificed much of value.

McRae, meanwhile, addresses a need for the Nuggets after they dealt away Malik Beasley and Juan Hernangomez in the Covington-Capela trade.

The presence of Nikola Jokic will naturally limit how much Denver relies on its long-range game, but the team would benefit by improving on the 10.8 made three-pointers it's averaging per game, tied for 23rd in the NBA.

McRae's 40 made threes are already a career high, so he'll help space the floor when Michael Malone wants to give Gary Harris or Will Barton a rest.

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