Wizards guard Bradley Beal still hasn’t finalized a decision on whether or not he’ll participate in the NBA’s restart, but head coach Scott Brooks said today that Beal is expected to join the club on its flight to Florida this week, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes.
Beal said last week that he remains undecided about whether he’ll play this summer, expressing some concerns about the shortened ramp-up period and the possible injury risk. Brooks, who said there’s no specific timeline for Beal’s decision, said today that his All-Star guard is looking “great” in workouts.
“His physical condition has been pretty good and continues to improve every day along with our other guys,” Brooks said, per Youngmisuk. “We are all getting tested every day and as of right now he’s a go and we are all going down there ready to compete and get better and play to get in a playoff position. He looks great.”
The Wizards, who are 5.5 games out of the last playoff spot in the East, will be without All-Star point guard John Wall and sharpshooter Davis Bertans during the restart — Wall continues to rehab his Achilles injury, while Bertans opted out due to his impending free agency and his ACL injury history.
Here’s more on the Wizards:
- Jerian Grant, who replaced Bertans on the Wizards’ summer roster as a substitute player, called it a “dream come true” to join his hometown team, as Jackson Filyo of WashingtonWizards.com details. Grant, who grew up in the D.C. area, worked as a ball boy for the franchise as a kid, and his father Harvey Grant played for the then-Bullets from 1988-93.
- Rui Hachimura, who would be preparing to represent Japan in the Tokyo Olympics this summer if not for the coronavirus, remains hopeful that he’ll be able to play for his home country in 2021, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “I’m honestly so sad about it. We can’t do anything about it,” Hachimura said of the postponement, adding that he has been looking forward to the event for years. “Of course, I would like to play in the Olympics. Next year, we’ll see how things go.”
- Pops Mensah-Bonsu, the general manager of the Capital City Go-Go, won’t return to the Wizards’ G League affiliate for the 2020/21 season, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. “I wanted to pursue some other things at this moment in time,” Mensah-Bonsu said. The remainder of the 2019/20 NBAGL season was canceled and it’s unclear when next season will start — that uncertainty played a part in Mensah-Bonsu’s decision, per Buckner.
6 bubble playoffs teams will tank for the top 4 picks 2021 and 2022
Spurs
Thunder
Wizards
Kings
Suns
Grizzlies
Top 4 picks are very attractive 2021 and 2022
The spurs wouldnt consider tanking, okc has established a winning culture and dont want to start messing with that, and Ja Morant of the Grizzlies wont have anything to do with tanking, he just isnt wired that way.
It doesn’t matter what winning culture OKC may have. They already lost 3 three best players the Thunder will ever have and once Chris Paul’s hamstrings give out they won’t have a hard time being a lottery team for many years to come. But at least they can always look back to 2012 when they made the Finals!
Yeah, but the question is how long since the last HOU finals, 1995? Sounds to me that rocketzzz fans are a bit jealous of the much more successful OKC!
Burn
There’s no incentive for Memphis to tank. We already have a young core featuring Ja, Clarke, JJJ, and Brooks. Not to mention, Valanciunas is locked into an inexpensive contract. The team’s already in postseason position and well ahead in the rebuild process. Imagine another season of development and growth. We just need to find some help at the 3