Bradley Beal is making progress after undergoing left wrist surgery in February. The Wizards star guard has been cleared to begin rehab work, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. Beal’s cast, as well as the pins in his wrist, were removed on Wednesday.
Beal has not yet announced whether he’ll pick up his $36.4MM player option for the 2022/23 season. The expectation is that he’ll likely turn down that option in favor of free agency, even if he intends to sign a new deal with the Wizards.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Hawks center Clint Capela won’t play in Game 3 of the team’s first-round series against the Heat on Friday, according to coach Nate McMillan, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic tweets. Capela suffered a knee injury in the play-in tournament against Cleveland.
- Earlier on Thursday, we noted that the Magic‘sTerrence Ross would welcome a trade. He has also changed his representation, rejoining CAA Sports as a client on and off the court, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal tweets. CAA’s Aaron Mintz, who negotiated all of his previous contracts, re-signed him after Ross left Klutch Sports. Ross will be a free agent next summer.
- Lottery pick James Bouknight admits his rookie season didn’t go as he hoped, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer writes. The Hornets guard appeared in just 31 games. “I feel like I would describe it as a roller coaster,” he said. “Having good moments, having moments I could have done better, took the situation and made it better. But I think overall I learned a lot.” Bouknight added he has no issues with James Borrego despite a public disagreement with his coach shortly before the All-Star break.
Bouknight will be a star in this league. Borrego is clueless.
Yeah Borrego is clueless, but no, Bouknight won’t be a star or anything near, lucky if he keeps in the league for a few years, bad attitude, not good at hoops (at NBA level)
Bouknight has good hands & feet, and the fault of that midseason flare-up may be Borrego’s. But he wiil take awhile to get regular time… I guess I can’t oppose Youcan’s take, but both Hornet firsts were immature talents.
Bouknight reminds me of Simons of Blazers, who did come around finally just in time for his second contract. Whether worth what he signs for… Not sure what he will go for. Could be 3/$45 but he has not been durable. (Simons)
Bouknight has some physical talent (not star level) but his mental faculties suggest he’ll never maximize it. With a top to bottom attitude adjustment, and some discipline, he could be a scorer, albeit an inefficient one. If not, he’s a backup or, more likely, a future professional street baller. He was the top player on my Do Not Draft list last year, and that was prior to speaking with people connected to the UConn program.