If you thought that the Wizards were going to start a downward trend after completing their trade with the Lakers that sent Rui Hachimura to LA for 3 second-round draft picks and Kendrick Nunn then you would be wrong.

The Wizards are currently riding the longest winning streak in the NBA after winning their sixth game in a row beating the San Antonio Spurs 127-106. This was the first time since 1999 that the Wizards beat the Spurs in Texas.

The win came in large part to Deni Avdija who was an impressive +25 and led the team in over 22 minutes in the contest. He scored 25 points and had 9 rebounds, taking full advantage of his playing time with the absence of Hachimura.

The Wizards are now sitting in 9^th place in the east and tie in the lost column with the Hawks. While they are far off the pace of the leaders in the East they are only 3.5 games back from the 6^th seed Heat.

This recent hot streak might not change GM Tommy Sheppard’s plan for the trade deadline but it will give him more leverage in these conversations because he could be a buyer, a seller, or chose to see how this team performs going into the offseason.

Speaking of leverage, Kyle Kuzma is averaging 21.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. He is set to make a lot of money going into next year and if the Wizards feel like DC will not be his long term home, they may look to sell high. But with numbers like that, I doubt that Kuzma will be taking a discount to stay.

The Wizards have 5 more games before the deadline. They play Detroit, Portland, Brooklyn, Cleveland, and Charlotte and how these games end up will affect their motivation on February 9^th. The positive is that 3 of those 5 teams are currently sitting outside of the playoffs, but for now it is a waiting game.