The Washington Wizards traded big man Jason Smith to Milwaukee on Friday in a three-team deal with the Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers. They acquired Sam Dekker and saved owner Ted Leonsis a whole lot of cash in the process.

All Washington needed to do to grease the wheels was throw in a 2021 second-rounder. ESPN soothsayer Brian Windhorst, though, reported that the 2021 pick went to the Cavs via Milwaukee, who then sent it back to the Wiz for Washington’s 2022 pick. Confusing, I know.

As part of Sam Dekker being re-rerouted to Wizards, Cavs and Wizards will swap second round picks. Cavs will send a 2021 second for a 2022 second. Carry on.

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) December 8, 2018

This deal is a win-win-win for the Wizards. They improved their roster, ducked a few million in tax payments, and kept the same amount of picks they had entering Friday.

Jason Smith is a limited 32-year-old center who’s made a solid career out of shooting 16-foot jumpers. He’s played just 415 minutes since the beginning of last season, and he’s been out of Scott Brooks’ rotation since Halloween. With his contract running out in June, the 12-year veteran may be in his final year on an NBA roster.

Dekker, if he manages to stick around in the league, is on the front nine of his career. The 6’9” forward from Wisconsin is just 24, and he’s cracked the rotations of the Rockets, Clippers, and Cavs over the last three seasons. His biggest issue is his jump shot – he’s at just 28.8 percent from three on his career. He’s a good finisher within the arc, though, and he’s a legit NBA-caliber athlete.

The Wizards are light at forward with Markieff Morris now the team’s backup five. Only Otto Porter, Kelly Oubre, and Jeff Green are naturals at either forward spot. Dekker profiles nicely as a fourth three-four swing, even if a pairing of he and Green on the second unit is light on shooting.

And at 24, he provides a modicum of promise for a franchise that desperately needs some. The Wiz now have the chance to see the former 18th overall pick in their jersey before deciding whether to extend his modest $3.9 million qualifying offer for next season.

This trade isn’t about Dekker, though. Smith makes $5.5 million, about $2.7 million more than Dekker does. That may sound like chump change for an NBA owner, but the Wizards are well over the luxury tax threshold; at their current tax level, every $1 on the payroll counts for $1.75 in tax payments.

If you’re counting at home, that means $2.7 million in salary savings also preserves about $4.7 million in cold hard cash. Leonsis and Monumental Sports are saving a combined – *pulls out calculator* – $7.4 million by making this trade. That’s not some enormous check for Leonsis, but every penny counts for a franchise likely facing the repeater tax in seasons to come.

Fans may not care much about well-to-do billionaires saving money on their NBA pet projects. Fair enough. But it makes no sense to pay extra for a team well out of championship contention.

And it’s not like Jason Smith was a valuable roster filler for the Wizards. He didn’t play at all, in fact. But Dekker might, and that’s an automatic upgrade. Washington just got marginally better and ducked $7.4 billion in sunk costs.

That’s a win in my book.