Wizards agree to trade No. 5 pick to Timberwolves for Miller, Foye

The Wizards and Timberwolves have agreed in principle to a trade involving Washington's No. 5 pick in the draft, a league source told SI.com on Tuesday. The

The Wizards and Timberwolves have agreed in principle to a trade involving Washington's No. 5 pick in the draft, a league source told SI.com on Tuesday.

The Wizards would receive Randy Foye and Mike Miller while the Timberwolves would get the No. 5 pick, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov.

The deal would leave Minnesota with the Nos. 5 and 6 picks in the lottery. The Timberwolves also have the 18th and 28th selections in the first round of Thursday's draft.

The trade was awaiting final approval by both sides. If consummated, the deal would enable new Timberwolves general manager David Kahn to make any number of moves leading up to the draft, whether he decides to keep the picks or package some or all of them to move up to No. 2 in an exchange with Memphis that could bring Ricky Rubio to Minnesota.

It is clear from the trade that Kahn intends to rebuild his backcourt after offering his two most talented guards to Washington -- and by no coincidence, this happens to be a draft heavy with guards, and point guards in particular.

For Washington, the trade is particularly intriguing. With the arrival of new coach Flip Saunders coinciding with the return from injury of point guard Gilbert Arenas and center Brendan Haywood, the Wizards are in win-now mode. This trade would deepen their backcourt with Miller becoming the likely starter at shooting guard alongside Arenas, and Foye serving as an excellent combo guard off the bench.

It was long rumored that the Wizards were seeking to dump salary, but this deal makes it clear they are investing to win big as the trade would keep them well above the luxury-tax threshold -- but with a much stronger team. They'd go into next season with firepower at all positions, in addition to the bench scoring they'd receive from Foye, swingman Nick Young and second-year big man JaVale McGee.

Miller's $9 million salary will expire next season, while Foye (who makes $3.6 million next season) is entering his fourth year and will be a restricted free agent in 2010.