NBA: With Okafor out indefinitely, Wizards land Gortat - ESPN

The Washington Wizards are determined to make the Playoffs this season.

With their starting center Emeka Okafor out indefinitely due to a herniated disk in his neck, the Wizards reacted less than a week before their season opener, shipping the 6'10" former second overall pick in 2004 to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Marcin Gortat, ESPN's Marc Stein reported.

Proposed deal will send Gortat, Shannon Brown and Kendall Marshall to Wizards and Suns on course to receive Emeka Okafor & at least one pick

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) October 25, 2013

Wizards can now plug a scoring center into their lineup, move Nene to the 4 where he belongs and still have $15+ mil in cap space come July

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) October 25, 2013

In addition to Okafor, the Suns get a 2014 first-round pick, protected up to No. 12, while  the Wizards also land Shannon Brown, Malcolm Lee and Kendall Marshall.

Stein however also reported that the Wizards are set to waive the trio of players in order to reach the maximum roster size of 15.

Gortat last season averaged 11.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.6 blocks for the Suns in 61 games, and would be an upgrade on the offensive end, compared to Okafor, who normed 9.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 blocks in 2012-13.

Other teams might be interested in adding the waived players. Brown put up 10.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals last season, while Marshall was the 13th overall pick in the 2012 draft and didn't really get a lot of playing time with Phoenix (14.6 minutes in 48 games for 3.0 points and 3.0 assists).

Lee meanwhile was a second-round pick in 2011 who spent the previous two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The addition of the protected 2014 pick will bolster the Suns' rebuilding efforts. The team also has protected picks from the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Indiana Pacers for next season's draft. - AMD, GMA News