Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Tomas Satoransky Signs With Wizards

February 28th, 2022 at 5:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Veteran guard Tomas Satoransky has officially signed with the Wizards, according to a team press release.

Satoransky was bought out by the Spurs and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported over the weekend he intended to return to Washington once he cleared waivers. That occurred on Monday.

Satoransky, who was in the final season of a three-year, $30MM contract, appeared in 32 games with New Orleans and one game with San Antonio this season. He was involved in two deadline deals — he was traded from the Pelicans to the Trail Blazers in the CJ McCollum blockbuster, then was shipped to the Spurs in a three-team swap.

Satoransky played his first three seasons in the league (2016-19) with the Wizards. During that span, he appeared in 210 games (87 starts), averaging 6.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 3.7 APG.

With Bradley Beal out for the season and Spencer Dinwiddie having been traded to Dallas in the Kristaps Porzingis deal, Satoransky could jump right into the Wizards’ rotation. Washington hosts the Pistons on Tuesday.

Eastern Notes: Kuzma, Oladipo, Morris, Bridges, Irving

February 27th, 2022 at 7:15pm CST by JD Shaw

The Wizards may have found something special in Kyle Kuzma, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes. Kuzma is having a career-best season with Washington so far, averaging 17.0 points and 8.8 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game.

“He’s shown a steady progression where it seems like every month he’s getting better. He’s playing with more confidence,” head coach Wes Unseld Jr. said.

According to Hughes, Kuzma has averaged 21.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game since December 22, raising his play on both ends. Washington acquired the 26-year-old in a trade involving star guard Russell Westbrook back in July.

Here are some other notes from the Eastern Conference:

The potential returns of Victor Oladipo and Markieff Morris offer intrigue for the Heat, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Oladipo hasn’t played this season, while Morris hasn’t played in over three months. Miami owns the best record in the East (40-21) despite their absences. “I just love to see everybody try to get healthy and do what they love to do, what they’ve been doing their entire life,” Jimmy Butler said of the duo. “The fact that they’ve been out for a little bit, but still are coming in smiling and working, I think that’s the most important thing. Yeah, they want to get back. Yeah, we want them back. But in due time, they will be back and we’ll be even better.”
Hornets forward Miles Bridges likely would’ve accepted the team’s $60MM extension offer last fall if it wasn’t for his agents, as relayed by Rohan Nadkarni of Sports Illustrated. Bridges, who is averaging 19.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this season, will likely be in line for a far more lucrative contract as a restricted free agent. “If it wasn’t for them I probably would’ve taken the deal,” Bridges said of his agents. “They got more confidence in me than I have sometimes.”
New York City will lift its “Key2NYC” vaccine mandate on March 7, but the private sector mandate still restricts Nets star Kyrie Irving from playing in home games, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The private sector mandate could be dropped eventually, but for now, Irving still can’t play in New York.

Posing Five Questions For Wizards Following All-Star Break

February 26th, 2022 at 3:31pm CST by JD Shaw

Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington poses five questions for the Wizards now that the All-Star break has passed. Among the topics Hughes addresses is Kristaps Porzingis‘ potential role, specifically how much he’ll play. The 26-year-old has only appeared in 34 games this season due to injuries.

Tomas Satoransky Bought Out By Spurs, Looks To Join Wizards

February 26th, 2022 at 12:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

12:37pm: The Spurs have officially waived Satoransky, the team announced in a press release. He’ll clear waivers on Monday, at which point he’ll be free to sign with Washington.

11:19am: Veteran guard Tomas Satoransky is preparing to sign with the Wizards after agreeing to a contract buyout with the Spurs, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Satoransky is in the final year of a three-year, $30MM contract and it’s safe to say he’ll clear waivers.

Satoransky appeared in 32 games with New Orleans and one game with San Antonio this season. He was involved in two deadline deals — he was traded from the Pelicans to the Trail Blazers in the CJ McCollum blockbuster, then was shipped to the Spurs in a three-team swap.

Satoransky played his first three seasons in the league (2016-19) with Washington. With Bradley Beal out for the season and Spencer Dinwiddie having been traded to Dallas in the Kristaps Porzingis deal, Satoransky should jump right into the Wizards’ rotation.

The Spurs previously bought out another player they acquired at the trade deadline, Goran Dragic. As a result, they’ll have two open spots on their 15-man roster once they officially waive Satoransky — they’ll have two weeks to go back to the NBA-mandated minimum of 14 players.

No Timetable For Porzingis' Debut

February 24th, 2022 at 1:50pm CST by Rory Maher

The Wizards traded for Kristaps Porzingis on February 10, but it sounds like they’ll continue to have to wait for his debut. He wasn’t a full participant in practice Wednesday or Thursday and coach Wes Unseld Jr. says Porzingis will be ramped up over a period of time, going from one-on-one to three-on-three then five-on-five. He has no definitive timetable for a return and is considered day-to-day going forward (All Twitter links from Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington).

Southeast Notes: LaMelo, Young, Heat, Kuzma

February 22nd, 2022 at 7:43pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Hornets find themselves armed with a freshly-minted All-Star in point guard LaMelo Ball and a 2022 Most Improved Player candidate in forward Miles Bridges. Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer wonders if the club will be able to maximize Ball while he remains in his prime.

Fowler is skeptical of that happening this season at least. The 29-31 club has lost nine of its last ten contests, due in part to the absence of small forward Gordon Hayward and a few other key players. Fowler notes that the shorthanded Hornets are struggling to close out games.

“The way we are right now, we’re in a place of confusion a little bit at times during the game,” forward Kelly Oubre reflected following the team’s seventh straight home loss. “More veteran teams come in and capitalize on that.”

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

In an interview with Dotun Akintoye of ESPN, Hawks All-Star point guard Trae Young discussed his rise through his college run at Oklahoma to the ranks of the NBA’s best. Head coach Nate McMillan praised Young. “I think he has a special talent that we haven’t really seen at that position, his ability to score, as well as facilitate,” McMillan said.
The Heat could benefit from the addition of another stretch four to help space the floor and draw opposing big men away from the basket, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Winderman cautions that the buyout market is currently somewhat barren. 36-year-old starting power forward P.J. Tucker fulfills that role at present, though given his advanced NBA age, is only playing 28.6 MPG. The 6’5″ veteran is connecting on 45% of his 3.1 three-point attempts per game.
The Wizards‘ front office may want to make power forward Kyle Kuzma, who is thriving in the first year of a reasonable three-season, $39MM contract, part of the team’s long-term future, opines Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Kuzma has a player option for the 2023/24 season, but if he keeps up this output, Robbins anticipates that the forward will opt out to test the free agent market in 2023. The 26-year-old is averaging 16.3 PPG, 8.8 RPG and 3.1 APG on .452/.334/.703 shooting splits this season.

Rui Hachimura Reminds Wizards Of Upside

February 20th, 2022 at 6:26pm CST by JD Shaw

Wizards forward Rui Hachimura scored 14 fourth-quarter points to defeat the Nets on Thursday, reminding the team of his upside, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes. Hachimura finished with 20 points in 27 minutes off the bench, shooting 8-of-15 from the floor. “Rui, he’s just got the joy back… I can see that smile again, I can see that laugh, I can see that joy,” teammate Ish Smith said. “Rui’s a special player. He’s been a special player the first two years I was here with him and now you guys are seeing him just continue to grow and get better.”

Porzingis Likely To Debut Next Friday

February 17th, 2022 at 6:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Though Bradley Beal is sidelined, the Wizards have been playing better since the trade deadline, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington notes. Kyle Kuzma believes players are settling into roles now that the fear of getting traded has passed. “I think we’re great chemistry-wise,” he said. “I think we’ve got a pretty good understanding of roles right now on the team. Everybody’s gelling, fitting in. Everybody’s just doing what they’re supposed to do.”
Kristaps Porzingis‘ Wizards debut is likely to happen next Friday (February 25) against San Antonio, Hughes tweets. “I anticipate he will, but once again we’ll just have to see,” coach Wes Unseld Jr. said of Porzingis, who was acquired from Dallas at the trade deadline.

Texas Notes: Porzingis, Popovich, Dragic, Nix

February 16th, 2022 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks decided to trade Kristaps Porzingis to the Wizards last week because they determined he couldn’t be an effective second star with Luka Doncic, Tim Cato of The Athletic states in a discussion of the deal. Porzingis was in his third season in Dallas, and all three had been disrupted by injuries, leading to concerns about whether he would ever be reliable to stay on the court. The Mavs are 13-9 in the games he has missed this season, so the front office felt it was safe to move on from his contract.

Cato is skeptical about Dallas’ return in the deal, although he says Spencer Dinwiddie will be a welcome addition for a team that has trouble driving to the basket and the Mavericks believe Davis Bertans is a better defender than his reputation would suggest. They plan to use him in larger lineups where his lack of rebounding will be less important.

There’s more NBA news from Texas:

The Spurs are focused on making the play-in tournament and reaching the playoffs, even though their 22-36 record indicates that they might be better off maximizing their first-round draft pick, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express News. Dejounte Murray and Devin Vassell both talked last weekend about the importance of getting to the postseason, and coach Gregg Popovich repeated that message on Monday. “If you put yourself in the situation, more as a coach than any other position in the organization, besides players, you can’t go to your team and ask them to lose,” Popovich said. “You can’t do that. It’s an impossibility for all of the logical reasons you can think of on your own. So, you go play your best, you keep teaching, you keep doing what you do. And if you lose and wind up with a high draft pick, well, you accept it and you are glad you got a high draft pick. But it can’t be because you didn’t push them or teach them or demand from them.”
Goran Dragic gave up $819,835 in his buyout agreement with the Spurs, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. The amount is equal to a 54-day minimum-salary contract for Dragic, so he’ll make up roughly all that money once he signs with a new team.
The Rockets used part of their mid-level exception to sign rookie guard Daishen Nix to a four-year contract, according to Smith (Twitter link). Nix will make $612K for the rest of this season and $1,563,518 in 2022/23. The final two years of the deal are non-guaranteed at $1,836,096 and $1,988,598, and the last season is also a team option.

Wizards Notes: Player Development, Hachimura, Porzingis

February 15th, 2022 at 7:19am CST by Luke Adams

Whether the Wizards push hard for a play-in spot down the stretch or resign themselves to a lottery berth and vie for draft positioning, developing their young players will be a top priority the rest of the way, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.

As Hughes outlines, if youngsters like Deni Avdija, Rui Hachimura, Corey Kispert, and Daniel Gafford thrive in the second half of the season, that will give the Wizards more options in the offseason — they could decide to build around those players or could try to trade one or more of them for a more established player.

Avdija, who is averaging 7.5 PPG on the season, has looked good as of late, scoring double-digit points in all three games since the trade deadline and grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds in Monday’s win over Detroit. However, Hachimura’s developmental process may have hit another temporary snag during Monday’s victory.

As Hughes writes in a separate NBC Sports Washington story, Hachimura left the game in the first half due to a right ankle sprain. Head coach Wes Unseld Jr. said after the game that he’s hopeful the sprain isn’t too severe, but it still might make sense for Washington to hold out the third-year forward until at least after the All-Star break.

Here’s more on the Wizards:

Unseld said on Monday that there’s hope Kristaps Porzingis will be able to make his Wizards debut before the All-Star break (Twitter link via Hughes). Washington plays in Indiana on Wednesday and Brooklyn on Thursday, so we’ll see if Porzingis – who is day-to-day with a right knee bone bruise – is available for either of those games.
Although general manager Tommy Sheppard insisted a few weeks before the trade deadline that the team felt no need to move Spencer Dinwiddie, it was obvious something was “dramatically off-kilter,” writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Dinwiddie, who struggled to produce alongside Bradley Beal, never seemed comfortable with his role on the team, Robbins adds, noting that the point guard was “oddly passive” and probably didn’t have the ball in his hands enough.
Within that same story at The Athletic, Tim Cato considers what Porzingis can bring to the Wizards, suggesting the big man has reemerged as a strong defender when healthy this season and is no longer an obvious target for switches. However, Porzingis hasn’t been a reliable outside shooter in 2021/22, and his frequent injury-related absences resulted in some awkward readjustment periods when he’d return to the lineup after missing several games, says Cato.