The Ramon Sessions trade gives the Wizards a solid change of pace from what Andre Miller brought over the last year.
Ramon Sessions has not been very good this season. He did not fit well with the Sacramento Kings and never found his place in the rotation behind Darren Collison. He's seen his share of healthy scratches this season and was inactive for a long stretch of time in December and January. Sessions will get a new start in D.C. with the Wizards and it sure seems like he needs one.
Andre Miller was more of a post threat and practiced more patience than anything else as a point guard. He is 39 years old and has seen the twilight of his career come and go. Miller missed three games this season due to Randy Wittman thinking he needed to rest.
He had long been a liability on defense, but when Rasual Butler's hot shooting cooled off there was not enough room for him to operate on the offensive end of the floor either. He had become a burden on both ends, posting a net rating of -14.1 in the month of January with an offensive rating of 92.9. As great as The Professor had been for the Wizards, he was too much of a liability to keep on the floor for any stretch.
Sessions is a much younger body with a far different playing style. Though he hasn't been productive at all this season, he's still a 28 year old point guard who could play more than 15 minutes per night if needed. He's long been a liability on defense himself and has proven to be on this year as well, posting a defensive rating of 110.3 with the Kings.
But if he works out, it could be a huge positive for the Wizards. In his better years, he has been a productive point guard. Last season, Sessions was able to play 26.7 minutes per game and had an offensive rating of 101.7. That isn't world-changing by any means, but it is better than what we have seen on the floor over the last two weeks.
Plus, Sessions is more of a drive and kick point guard. Last season he averaged 7.3 drives per game, and his teams scored 9.7 points per 48 minutes on those drives. That is positive and solid production. If Sessions can collapse defenses in D.C. as he did last season for Milwaukee and Charlotte, he can be a positive piece to have.
The only issue with Sessions that we can clearly see is a large one: His shooting. Sessions has not been able to see the floor in Sacramento because he did not fit with their offensive style, which was initially playing at a slow pace and getting the ball down to DeMarcus Cousins in the post.
Sessions is not a very good shooter and never has been. When the ball is not in his hands spacing has always been an issue. He's shooting 35 percent from the floor this season and is a career 30 percent three point shooter. The Wizards like to dump the ball down to Seraphin when the second unit is in, and Sessions is not a slasher in the ilk of Miller. He won't become available to the ball in the same way.
Sessions shot 27 percent on catch and shoot three-point opportunities last season and is shooting 10 percent in those situations in a small sample this season. Sessions is going to need the ball the be effective, so the question is will he get it? We'll find out soon.
All statistical support is from NBA.com's stats tool