The way the Magic, Hawks and Bobcats stand with training camp approaching figures to make for some intrigue in the weeks ahead, as I examined this weekend. Those three teams have fewer than 13 guaranteed contracts, so there are regular season jobs up for grabs. The same might not be true for the Heat and the Wizards, though Michael Beasley's presence could make it interesting for Miami, and there are other developments for Washington's team, as we detail:
- Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld remains in charge, but D.C.'s front office is getting a makeover, the team announced on its website. Tommy Sheppard gets a promotion and will presumably serve as Grunfeld's right-hand man. The Wizards have brought in other officials from the Raptors, Thunder and Hawks.
- Washington's offseason additions will allow the Wizards to play more small-ball this season, as J. Michael of CSNWashington.com examines. The opposite approach is taking place in Orlando, where No. 2 overall pick Victor Oladipo will play the point and Maurice Harkless will see some action at two guard, HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy tweets.
- In today's mailbag, a reader asks Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel if Michael Beasley could eventually find his way into the Heat's starting lineup ahead of Udonis Haslem. Winderman doesn't see that as a likely outcome, as the starting five is already overloaded with scorers. Beyond that, Beasley has to prove himself as being worthy of a roster spot and worth an extra $2MM+ when factoring in his salary along with the luxury tax.
Zach Links contributed to this post.