Wizards forward Davis Bertans is set to return to the lineup Wednesday, per our JD Shaw (Twitter link). Bertans has been sidelined the past 10 games with an ankle sprain.
We noted yesterday that bertans practiced with the Capital City Go-Go in the G League and was a game-time decision against the Hornets. However, he ended up missing the game and will instead make his return tomorrow against the Pelicans.
Bertans was off to a slow start this season; through seven games, he’s averaging 6.1 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 16.9 MPG, with a .342/.333/1.000 shooting line.
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Montrezl Harrell, an unrestricted free agent in 2022, is off to a terrific start with the Wizards, averaging 17.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG (28.4 MPG) through 17 contests. Josh Robbins of The Athletic explores how much Harrell might earn in free agency. Robbins says if Bradley Beal decides to stay with the team, and assuming Harrell maintains his production, he could see the Wizards offering him a contract in the range of $10-14MM annually. He points to Christian Wood (three years, $41MM) and Richaun Holmes (four years, $46.5MM) as recent examples of contracts in that range.
- Fourth-year center Mohamed Bamba, who’ll be a restricted free agent this summer if the Magic tender him a qualifying offer, recently gave a Q&A with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Bamba says he’s happy in Orlando and thinks the team has a lot of potential. “I think the sky’s the limit for this young group. We have a lot of talent, and we have a lot of depth at every position. I’m excited to be a part of this. I’m excited to wear Orlando across my chest. I’m just focusing on the now and the moment,” Bamba said.
- Hawks wing Cam Reddish is showing progress in his third season, according to Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Star Trae Young says good things happen when Reddish is in attack-mode on offense. “He’s just stepping right in and playing his role, going hard on defense, and then on the offensive end we want him to attack, be aggressive and for me personally I love when he’s going to the basket and he’s making plays and he’s talking mess, just being himself, you know what I’m saying?” Young said. “I think that’s when you get the best version of Cam, when he’s playing like that.” Reddish will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.
Cam should be starting. I said it before the season & I’m still saying it. He’s prone to iffy decision making from time to time but he’s an elite perimeter defender with a dynamic & varied floor game & he’s only getting better. He’s always looked like a young Larry Hughes to me but the Paul George type potential that many have seen in him is definitely there & has come out numerous times this season.
I agree on his defense, but right now they already have two stagnation points on offense that significantly slow down ball movement (Collins, Capela). Hunter was also a stagnation point but the whole nonsense of having Huerter on the second team for his offense is hopefully a thing of the past as the entire offense just runs so much smoother with him in that starting five. Watching them now is like a different team that is elite on offense.
Reddish still needs to work on his offense and making quick, solid decisions. With Williams and Wright in the second five with him it should give him that growth opportunity.
The one thing I hope doesn’t happen is Hunter being gifted a starting five nod when he returns because he isn’t a good fit on the second rotation. I would much rather see Reddish out there for his defense (better than Hunter), or Huerter out there because he just benefits the offense so much more (even if his numbers don’t show it).
Trez aint getting Holmes or Wood money – those guys, at least theoretically, are good on D.
He is equal too or slightly below woods defense and neither Holmes or Wood have a winning pedigree like Harrell, I could see him gettin close to their money for sure…Wood and Holmes put up nice stat lines on perennial losers, Harrell helps teams win with more than stats, 3 for 30 for him doesn’t seem to crazy at all