Landry Shamet

Wizards Notes: Poole, Kispert, Shamet, Kuzma

December 23rd, 2023 at 10:37am CST by Tristan Tucker

It’s been difficult for Wizards guard Jordan Poole to adjust to Washington on the court, as he’s averaging 17.5 points on 40.8% shooting from the floor while taking 15.1 field-goal attempts per game. However, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes, he’s been an excellent fit off the court for his new team.

“He’s always got a smile on his face,” teammate Corey Kispert said. “He can talk to anybody. Off the court, he’s just a ray of light. He always brings good energy, and it’s good to see Jordan every single day when I walk into the building. I know I can count on him to pick me up if I’m not feeling great.”

While Poole has been rough on defense and inconsistent on offense, he’s approaching this season with a positive outlook, Robbins writes.

“This is the most that they’ve been on me other than the playoffs or the finals,” Poole said. “I think it’s awesome, honestly, just to feel that over the course of the game how teams are over and over and over night-in, night-out coming out with physicality because that’s what’s in their game plan. That’s what coaches think would be a good way to slow me down. So, I’m embracing it, learning from it, growing from it.”

It’s evident that despite their 5-23 record as of Saturday, Poole and his teammates have established solid chemistry.

“Porzingis was the same way — kind of a pleasant surprise in the same way,” Kispert said. “We all heard a lot of rumors of him coming from Dallas and the things that happened there. And then when he showed up in our locker room, he immediately took me by surprise, and he treated everyone great. Anybody off the team or in my circle of friends back home who were asking me about him — I could only say positive things about him. And Jordan’s been the same way: [He’s] been an absolute pleasure to be a teammate of and to get to know.”

In another story about Poole’s acclimation, The Washington Post’s Ava Wallace writes about the guard’s specific adjustments to his game and the switch from Golden State to Washington. Wallace points out that Poole is no stranger to this, as it took him two years to find his groove with the Warriors.

“You’ve got to just keep going, every day. The plan is the plan,” Poole said. “Someone just told me that the other day, and I kind of like it. Everything will pan itself out, you know? You’ve just got to keep doing what you’re doing as long as you’re doing it with the right intent, which I believe in 100 percent. It’s just a matter of time.”

We have more from the Wizards:

While Kispert’s efficiency on three-pointers is down so far this season — to 37.4% from 42.4% in 2022/23 on roughly the same attempts per game — Wallace writes that he has shown improvements in other areas of his game. Kispert has improved as a play-maker and off-ball mover, Wallace observes, and he’s taking smarter shots. “The growth doesn’t change no matter what my output says in the box score,” Kispert said. “I still feel it. I still know it. Obviously, I can’t let it discourage me. But some things are just out of my control as a player, and that’s just kind of the way things go.“
Guard Landry Shamet missed eight games in a row for the Wizards but made his return Friday against the Warriors (Twitter link via Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network). Shamet played just 13 minutes in his return and didn’t score.
Forward Kyle Kuzma exited Washington’s Friday game against the Warriors with right knee soreness and did not return (Twitter link via the team). However, Andscape’s Marc J. Spears tweets that Kuzma told him that he expects to be ready for the Wizards’ next game (vs. the Magic on Tuesday).

Wizards Notes: Poole, Jones, Gallinari, Coulibaly, Shamet

November 18th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Wizards guard Jordan Poole, who is off to an inconsistent start with his new team, had his worst game of the season on Friday, scoring just eight points on 2-of-11 shooting and committing five turnovers in a 21-point loss to New York. His scoring average for the season is at 15.5 PPG on .392/.278/.813 shooting, well below the marks he posted during his last two seasons in Golden State.

After the loss, Tyus Jones said that he and the rest of the Wizards are trying to make sure that Poole stays positive, and expressed confidence that things will turn around before long for his backcourt partner.

“I think he’s probably putting a little too much pressure on himself,” Jones said (Twitter video link via Hoop District). “But it comes from a place of caring and wanting to be great and wanting to succeed, wanting to play well for not only himself but for his teammates, for the city, for the organization. It’ll work itself out. He’ll be good.”

Veteran forward Kyle Kuzma took to Twitter to voice his agreement with Jones’ assessment, responding to his teammate’s quotes with the “100” emoji.

Here’s more out of D.C.:

Speaking to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Jones said he’s trying to make the Wizards’ front office “look good” for acquiring him and giving him an opportunity to be a starting point guard for the first time in his career. He also said he’s trying not to focus on his 2024 free agency as he plays out a contract year. “I like where I’m at. I like what we have here in D.C.,” Jones said. “I like the future and what this could be. I want to be a part of that. I’m looking forward to doing so.”
Scotto also spoke to Danilo Gallinari about the veteran forward’s desire to represent Italy in the 2024 Olympics and how much longer he’d like to continue his NBA career. “As long as my legs are underneath me, I want to play,” the 35-year-old said. “When you love basketball so much, in your head, you want to play until you’re 70, but of course your legs are not going to be there. As long as my legs are there, my mind is always going to be ready to go and be competitive. I just need my legs, and I’ll be good.”
Rookie forward Bilal Coulibaly has impressed the Wizards with his defensive effort this season and passed another big test this week when he held his own against Luka Doncic in Wednesday’s loss to Dallas, per Chase Hughes and Bijan Todd of Monumental Sports Network.
In a separate story, Hughes takes a look at what Landry Shamet – acquired from Phoenix in the summer’s Bradley Beal blockbuster – has brought to the Wizards, noting that his quick release has added a new element to the club’s second unit.

Southeast Notes: Muscala, Shamet, Hornets, Hawks

November 2nd, 2023 at 12:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Wizards big man Mike Muscala, who was acquired from Boston this offseason in the Kristaps Porzingis trade, got the Latin phrase “carpe diem” (it translates to “seize the day”) tattooed on his right forearm this summer in honor of his late mother, who passed away prior to 2022/23. As Bijan Todd of Monumental Sports Network writes, the 11-year veteran tries to his embody his mother’s zeal for life by bringing her “positive energy” and gratitude, both on and off the court.

“You owe [the starters], when you come in off the bench, just to have that extra energy, and try to, like you said, bring a spark,” Muscala said. “It doesn’t got to be anything crazy, but something to just kinda change the game up a little bit, figure out how you can fit into that. I feel like we got a lot of guys on this team that can do that, too. That’ll be a big thing for us throughout the season.”

Muscala, 32, has appeared in three of Washington’s four games, averaging 3.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per night. He’s playing on an expiring $3.5MM contract and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.

Here’s more from the Southeast:

Wizards guard Landry Shamet, another offseason addition who was acquired from Phoenix in the Bradley Beal trade, made his ’23/24 season debut on Wednesday, recording eight points, two assists and a steal in 12 minutes. As Josh Robbins of The Athletic notes (via Twitter), Shamet had missed all of preseason and Washington’s first three games with a fractured left toe. Now on his fifth team in six seasons, Shamet could be a free agent next summer — his contract is only guaranteed for this season.
Slow starts to games and poor defensive rotations have plagued Charlotte through four games, with the Hornets off to a 1-3 start. Head coach Steve Clifford said he’s still trying to figure out how to juggle the rotations, according to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “That’s ever evolving,” Clifford said. “That’s every day. To be honest with you, I think once you start playing, I think if you talk to most coaches, that’s what you spend your time on. But I do have to be careful in that it still starts with you want the guys on your team to be in rhythm when they are playing. And you can’t just do, ‘We are going to play match-up basketball every night,’ because you can’t be taking guys out. I really think if a guy doesn’t play at least six minutes, you can’t expect him to play well.”
Hawks head coach Quin Snyder told reporters on Wednesday that minutes at power forward will be split between Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson and — to a lesser extent — De’Andre Hunter, who mostly plays the three. Neither Snyder nor the players are concerned with who starts, per Brad Rowland (Twitter link). “People get fixated on starting,” Snyder said as part of a larger quote. “It is what it is. You go watch a game in Europe, they start different lineups all the time and no one thinks anything of it. … I think, particularly in Saddiq and Jalen’s case because they’ve both started games, they haven’t thought about it the way the general public thinks about it. … And that’s refreshing, because I think it shows their commitment to the bottom line, which is not the stat sheet. It’s the wins.”

Trade Breakdown: Bradley Beal To The Suns

October 24th, 2023 at 5:07pm CST by Rory Maher

This is the second entry in our series breaking down the significant trades of the 2023 offseason. As opposed to giving out grades, this series explores why the teams were motivated to make the moves. Let’s dive into a three-team blockbuster between the Suns, Wizards and Pacers…

On June 24:

The Suns acquired Bradley Beal, Jordan Goodwin, and Isaiah Todd.
The Wizards acquired Chris Paul; Landry Shamet; the draft rights to Bilal Coulibaly (No. 7 pick); the Suns’ second-round picks in 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2030; first-round pick swaps in 2024, 2026, 2028, and 2030; and cash ($4.6MM; from Suns).
The Pacers acquired the draft rights to Jarace Walker (No. 8 pick), the Suns’ 2028 second-round pick, and the Wizards’ 2029 second-round pick.

Notes:

We won’t be covering the Wizards/Pacers part of this trade because it’s pretty straightforward: Washington gave up a couple second-rounders (one from Phoenix) to move up one spot in the draft, while Indiana got the player it wanted plus a couple assets.
The Wizards will have the ability to swap their own first-round pick with the Suns’ first-rounder in 2024, 2026, and 2030. In 2028, the Wizards will have the ability to swap their own first-round pick with whichever one the Suns control (it could be the Suns’ own, the Nets’ first-rounder, or the Sixers’ first-rounder).
The Wizards generated two traded player exceptions in the deal ($5,379,250 and $300,000 for Beal and Goodwin, respectively).
Todd was later traded from Phoenix to Memphis and then waived by the Grizzlies.

The Wizards’ perspective:

Bradley Beal is the sixth-highest paid player in the league, only trailing former MVP winners Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, LeBron James and Nikola Jokic. He will make $207.74MM over the next four seasons, including a $57MM+ player option in 2026/27.

The cost of Beal’s contract on its own would have made it difficult to recoup significantly positive value for the three-time All-Star, in part because he has appeared in just 90 of a possible 164 games over the past two seasons due to a variety of injuries. And for all his offensive skill, Beal has never been a great defender.

Complicating matters further for the Wizards was the fact that Beal is the only player in the entire NBA – and only the 10th in league history – to have a full no-trade clause. That gave Beal an enormous amount of power to choose not only his next destination, but the outgoing pieces that he would be traded for, since he could (and still can) veto any trade for whatever reason he wants.

It’s easy to say now (a lot of people were saying it at the time as well) that the Wizards should have extracted maximum value for Beal by trading him a few years ago, instead of waiting, keeping him, and giving him a pricey new contract with an inexplicable no-trade clause. But that isn’t what happened, and you can only play the cards you’re dealt.

I used that idiom in particular because new front office executives Michael Winger (president) and Will Dawkins (general manager) did not sign Beal. They just inherited his contract when they took over the basketball operations department.

Over the past five seasons, with Beal as the face of the franchise following major injuries to John Wall, the Wizards have gone 161-229, a 41.3 winning percentage. They posted a losing record each season, including going 35-47 the past two campaigns.

Obviously, not all of that is on Beal. He has been a very good player when healthy, despite his defensive shortcomings. But not good enough on his own to lift Washington into relevance.

The Wizards have been just mediocre enough to hurt their odds of landing a top draft pick while also being bad enough to always be in the lottery. Clearly, they needed a change of direction, and that had to start with moving Beal, who had been with Washington for all 11 of his NBA seasons.

I’m still a little surprised the Wizards got as much as they did from the Suns, even if it doesn’t look like an impressive haul at first glance. For example, the 2024 first-round pick swap is essentially worthless; there’s virtually no chance that Phoenix will be worse than Washington in ‘23/24.

Still, the Suns literally gave up every movable draft pick they controlled at the time, plus Paul, Shamet and cash.

Paul’s pseudo-expiring contract was later traded to Golden State for Jordan Poole, Patrick Baldwin, Ryan Rollins, a heavily protected 2030 first-round pick, a 2027 second-rounder and cash. We’ll dig deeper into that trade in a future article, but obviously it’s directly tied to this one, since Paul was the primary salary-matching piece for Beal.

In total: Poole, Baldwin, Rollins, Shamet, a top-20 protected first-rounder, four first-round swaps, seven second-round picks (one was sent to Indiana) and cash for Beal.

How Poole performs will ultimately go a long way to determining how valuable the return is, at least in the short term. He’s six years younger than Beal (24 vs. 30), will make $123MM+ over the next four years (instead of $207MM+) and doesn’t have a no-trade clause.

The 2030 pick swap has a chance to be very valuable, but only if the Wizards are better than Phoenix. It’s so far in the future that speculating about the possibility feels borderline pointless, though it’s worth noting that Kevin Durant will be 42 at that point.

Shamet is a decent player on a pseudo-expiring mid-sized contract — he’ll earn a guaranteed $10.25MM this season, but the final two years of his rookie scale extension are non-guaranteed. The 26-year-old has shot 38.8% from three-point range over his five-year career, which is valuable. When he’s on, he can make threes in bunches.

However, he doesn’t offer a whole lot else. It’s hard to say if he’ll be in Washington’s plans going forward, but his contract could be useful for trade purposes if he’s not.

Simply put, the Wizards needed to get younger, focus on player development, and rid themselves of Beal’s contract, which is arguably one of the worst deals in the NBA due to the no-trade clause — particularly for a team in no-man’s land. Washington accomplished all of those things, even if rebuilding is much easier in theory than it is practice.

The Suns’ perspective:

Clearly, new owner Mat Ishbia doesn’t care about spending money — the Suns added to their payroll (and luxury tax payment) by making this deal, both now and going forward. He just wants to win.

Beal doesn’t need to be the face of the Suns. He doesn’t need to be the team’s best – or even second-best – player. The Suns just need him to be an immediate upgrade over 38-year-old Paul, who was a key reason Phoenix reached the Finals in 2021 and had the league’s best record in ‘22.

The Suns were reportedly thinking about waiving Paul before they traded him in the package for Beal. While the future Hall of Famer was still effective last season, he has clearly lost a step on both ends, and remains a perennial injury concern. Turning a player you were contemplating cutting — plus other assets that may or may not be valuable — into an All-Star caliber player closer to his prime was a gamble worth taking for Phoenix.

It may seem like I’m not particularly high on Beal based on how I described things from Washington’s perspective. I certainly don’t think he’s the sixth-best player in the league, but that’s not really how contracts work.

Beal has had an interesting career trajectory. Early on he was primarily known as a jump shooter who would occasionally dabble in secondary play-making and driving. He wasn’t a great finisher in the paint and took far too many long twos, which hurt his efficiency.

For example, while Beal shot an impressive 39.7% from deep over his first four seasons, he only converted 44.0% of his twos and didn’t get to the line much, only posting a 52.1% true shooting percentage (for context, league average over that span was about 53.8%).

As with many talented scorers, Beal improved upon his weaknesses and became a much more dangerous and well-rounded offensive player from 2016 on, averaging 25.5 points, 5.0 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals with a 58.1 TS%. He posted above league average scoring efficiency in six of those seven seasons.

Interestingly, his three-point percentage has actually dropped pretty significantly over the past five seasons, which included his two 30-plus points per game campaigns from 2019-21. He has only converted 34.7% from long range over that span, and he has attempted progressively fewer threes as well.

Part of that is actually by design, and it’s also what makes Beal such a dangerous offensive player. He’s still treated like a sharpshooter who is chased off the line while coming off screens, but now he leverages that threat to get into the paint, make plays, draw fouls, and take short range jumpers, which he is very efficient at converting.

There isn’t really a great way to guard a player like Beal one-on-one. He’s a smooth ball-handler who uses hesitation dribbles to gain an advantage, and he’s adept at playing off the ball. He’s also a solid play-maker and passer, though he can be turnover prone at times.

The fact that Beal has been a No. 1 option for several years and is now a second or third option while still playing at basically the same level is kind of ridiculous. If Durant, Devin Booker and Beal are healthy, the Suns’ offense is going to be outrageously good, and it should be even better in the playoffs because of how versatile their stars are.

Another benefit for the Suns is if Booker or Durant are injured, they can just increase Beal’s usage and run more plays for him. He isn’t quite at the same level of either of those two, but he’s still a top-tier offensive player.

Goodwin shouldn’t be overlooked as part of this trade either. He was quite effective as a reserve last season for the Wizards. While he isn’t a great shooter, he’s an outstanding rebounder for his size (he’s 6’3” and averaged 6.7 rebounds per 36 minutes), is a solid play-maker who takes care of the ball, and is a terrific defender. He’s also on a bargain contract, another huge plus.

It’s very difficult to get quality production from minimum-salary free agents, and the Suns had arguably the best offseason in the NBA as far as that goes. I thought Eric Gordon, Drew Eubanks, Keita Bates-Diop and Yuta Watanabe all could have gotten at least the bi-annual exception or part of the mid-level exception. Phoenix also re-signed Josh Okogie at near the minimum — he got a slight raise using his non-Bird rights.

Some writers/analysts have questions about the Suns’ depth, but I actually think they have one of the deeper rosters in the league. They have plenty of solid players capable of complementing their star trio, and if a role player is having an off night, they can just insert another player in his spot.

The Suns completely overhauled their roster, plus they have a new coach, so you could argue chemistry will be an issue, particularly early on. But I don’t think there’s any doubt that they have a more talented and well-rounded team entering 2023/24 compared to the squad that ended ‘22/23.

Out: Paul, Shamet, Deandre Ayton, Torrey Craig, Cameron Payne, Terrence Ross, Ish Wainright, Bismack Biyombo, Jock Landale, Darius Bazley, T.J. Warren.
In: Beal, Goodwin, Gordon, Eubanks, Bates-Diop, Watanabe, Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, Grayson Allen, Bol Bol, Chimezie Metu.

While Ross, Biyombo and Warren are all seasoned veterans, they remain free agents with the season starting today. Bazley signed a non-guaranteed deal with Brooklyn this summer but didn’t make the team. Wainright is now on a two-way deal with Portland after Phoenix waived him.

The biggest question mark for me with Phoenix isn’t depth, it’s health. Beal, Durant and Booker have all missed a significant chunk of time in recent seasons, and the Suns need all of them to be healthy in the playoffs (both Paul and Ayton were injured in the second round against Denver last season). Nurkic – a less critical piece of the puzzle — has also missed a ton of action over the past four seasons, but we’ll get more into that in a future article.

The fact that Beal (lower back) may not be available for Tuesday’s season opener against Golden State has to be a little discouraging, even if the team is likely just being cautious.

If things go really south in the next few years for whatever reason, worst-case scenario, the Suns could always trade Durant and/or Booker and retool the roster. If that were to occur, Beal would probably be happy to waive his no-trade clause again and be moved as well.

Still, there are lots of reasons for optimism for Phoenix. New head coach Frank Vogel has a well-deserved reputation as being a strong defensive coach, and there’s plenty of talent on that end for the Suns. If Beal can just be average or a little below, which is doable, they should be more than fine as far as that goes.

The Suns are on the short list of contenders this season. If they win, it would be their first championship in franchise history. Reshaping their roster on the fly was impressive, and a worthwhile risk – we’ll see if it pays off.

Eastern Notes: Gobert, Fournier, Van Gundy, Wizards, Black, Howard, Hayward

October 15th, 2023 at 8:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert is disappointed that fellow Frenchman Evan Fournier has an uncertain future with the Knicks and an undefined role, he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. Fournier anticipated during the offseason that he would be traded.

Gobert calls Fournier “the best shooter on the Knicks.”

“I think he can contribute and help a lot of teams,” Gobert added. “I think everybody knows it. But it’s kind of weird when you end up on the bench and you don’t really know why. Sometimes you can be stuck in a situation — I know he’s going to have an opportunity again, and everybody will understand that he can help and win. And do it at a high level. And do it every night.”

We have more Eastern Conference news:

Jeff Van Gundy, who was hired by the Celtics as a senior consultant, has a longtime admirer in president of basketball operations Brad Stevens. “Jeff has been an unofficial consultant for so many of us that grew up in coaching for a long time,” Stevens told Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. “He’s so humble and approachable, and has always gone out of his way to spend time helping others.”
The Wizards’ Deni Avdija (back), Patrick Baldwin Jr. (knee) and Taj Gibson (groin) were all full practice participants on Sunday, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. Anthony Gill (hamstring) and Landry Shamet (toe) were the only players who didn’t fully participate.
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley felt lottery picks Anthony Black and Jett Howard showed improvement in the team’s second preseason contest against Clevleand, according to Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. “That second game, they were settled down,” Mosley said. “Our coaches did a tremendous job of watching film with them to help them see what they’re able to do and they settled in that second game.”
Hornets forward Gordon Hayward (right foot discomfort) missed the team’s preseason contest against Oklahoma City on Sunday, the team’s PR department tweets.

Wizards’ Gafford, Shamet Dealing With Injuries

October 1st, 2023 at 6:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With training camp about to begin, the Wizards are dealing with a pair of new injuries.

Center Daniel Gafford injured an elbow while falling during a pickup game, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. Gafford will not require surgery but he’s expected to be sidelined for two-to-four weeks.

Guard Landry Shamet recently sustained a broken big toe and will also miss approximately two-to-four weeks, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

That puts the availability for both players for opening night very much in doubt.

Gafford, who turned 25 on Sunday, started 47 of 78 games last season. He averaged 9.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 20.6 minutes. Gafford projects to be the team’s starter in the middle when he returns, with Mike Muscala and Taj Gibson backing him up.

Shamet was acquired in the Bradley Beal blockbuster and is expected to back up Jordan Poole at the shooting guard spot. Shamet, a career 38.8% 3-point shooter, averaged 8.7 points and 2.3 assists last season in 40 games with the Suns.

Shamet is signed through the 2025/26 season, but his salary next season isn’t guaranteed and there’s a club option on the final year.

Scotto’s Latest: Bufkin, Wizards, Payton, Las Vegas

September 13th, 2023 at 9:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hawks tried to trade for Raptors forward Pascal Siakam this summer, but they weren’t willing to part with first-round pick Kobe Bufkin, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Atlanta’s offers focused on De’Andre Hunter, AJ Griffin and draft picks, but Bufkin wasn’t included, sources tell Scotto.

Toronto considered selecting Bufkin with the 13th pick before opting for Gradey Dick, Scotto adds. He also hears that Hawks coach Quin Snyder is a huge proponent of Bufkin, who is coming off an impressive sophomore season at Michigan.

Scotto notes that Atlanta’s options will expand when Bogdan Bogdanovic becomes trade-eligible on Saturday. The veteran swingman, who was named to the All-Star 5 at the World Cup, is under contract for $68MM over the next four years, including a $16MM team option for 2026/27.

Scotto offers more inside information from around the league:

The Wizards aren’t looking to make a move right away, but they expect to get trade offers for Danilo Gallinari, Landry Shamet and Delon Wright. Scotto points out that Gallinari at $6.8MM and Wright at $8.2MM both have expiring contracts. Shamet is signed for three more years, but his only guaranteed money is $10.25MM for 2023/24. Sources tell Scotto that Gallinari hasn’t engaged in buyout talks with the Wizards and is focused on making a comeback after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. The Hornets considered making a trade offer for Wright before targeting Frank Ntilikina instead, Scotto adds, and league executives told him that Washington could probably get a second-round pick or two in exchange for the veteran guard.
Elfrid Payton recently had workouts with the Timberwolves and Hornets, sources told Scotto. Payton spent part of last season in the G League, then signed to play in Puerto Rico in late March. He hasn’t been in the NBA since playing 50 games with the Suns during the 2021/22 season.
When Las Vegas hosts the semifinals and finals of the in-season tournament in December, the response could go a long way toward securing an expansion team for the city, multiple executives told Scotto. The NBA has been expanding its presence in Las Vegas in recent years with the annual Summer League and the G League Showcase. Seattle and Las Vegas are widely considered the leading contenders for the next round of expansion.

And-Ones: T. Davis, Player Tiers, 2025 FAs, R. Thompson

August 16th, 2023 at 7:19pm CST by Rory Maher

According to Arale Weisberg of Israeli outlet Walla Sport (Twitter link), Spanish powerhouse FC Barcelona is keeping tabs on free agent wing Terence Davis, who spent the past two-and-a-half seasons with the Kings (hat tip to Dario Skerletic of Sportando).

In 64 regular season games (13.1 MPG) with Sacramento in 2022/23, Davis averaged 6.7 PPG and 2.2 RPG on .423/.366/.791 shooting. In total, the 26-year-old has appeared in 227 games over four seasons with the Raptors and Kings.

A handful of NBA teams were rumored to be interested in Davis once free agency got underway on June 30, but he has yet to find another club. The Kings renounced his rights in order to maximize their cap space this summer.

As Skerletic notes, Barcelona — which recently signed Jabari Parker — would likely have to give Davis a contract in the range of Parker’s deal to entice him to come to Europe. Parker will reportedly receive a one-year, $2MM contract that includes an NBA opt-out clause.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Earlier this week, Seth Partnow of The Athletic released his first two player tier rankings ahead of the 2023/24 season. Roughly ranking the top-125 players in the league, tier five consisted of 45 players, while tier four contained 41. His latest installment — tier three — includes 21 players, such as Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, and Kings guard De’Aaron Fox. Partnow’s top two tiers will feature 18 total players.
Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype takes an early look at the potential 2025 free agent class, with Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo ranked No. 1 overall. Wizards guard Landry Shamet rounds out Gozlan’s top-65 list.
Former Indiana forward Race Thompson, who went undrafted earlier this summer, recently revealed that he sustained a right tibia plateau fracture a couple months ago, as Kyler Staley of Hoosier Illustrated relays. Thompson had reached an agreement to play for the Knicks in Summer League action, but obviously the injury prevented that from happening.

Suns, Wizards Officially Complete Bradley Beal Trade

June 24th, 2023 at 1:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns and Wizards have issued press releases confirming that the Bradley Beal trade is official. Word of the agreement first broke last Sunday afternoon, with further details trickling out on Monday and Thursday.

The Wizards’ trade with the Pacers that moved Washington up from No. 8 to No. 7 in Thursday’s draft is also being folded into this transaction, making it a three-team deal. The full terms of the blockbuster deal are as follows:

Suns acquire Beal, Jordan Goodwin, and Isaiah Todd.
Wizards acquire Chris Paul; Landry Shamet; the draft rights to Bilal Coulibaly (No. 7 pick); the Suns’ second-round picks in 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2030; first-round pick swaps in 2024, 2026, 2028, and 2030; and cash (approximately $3.5MM; from Suns).
Pacers acquire the draft rights to Jarace Walker (No. 8 pick), the Suns’ 2028 second-round pick, and the Wizards’ 2029 second-round pick.

Because the Suns’ 2028 second-rounder, originally committed to the Wizards as part of the Beal trade, is being rerouted to Indiana, all three teams satisfy the NBA’s “touching” rules for three-team deals.

The Wizards have now traded away their top two leading scorers from the 2022/23 season on consecutive days, having formally finalized their deal sending Kristaps Porzingis to Boston very early on Friday morning.

Wizards owner Ted Leonsis and new president of basketball operations Michael Winger issued statements within today’s trade announcement, wishing Beal well after he spent the first 11 years of his NBA career in D.C.

“Bradley leaves a legacy and impact that will continue to be felt by those he helped during the 11 seasons we watched him develop into a cornerstone of our on-court and off-court efforts,” Leonsis said. “We appreciate and respect the place he holds in our franchise’s history and we’re proud that he established himself as a star player, community leader and family man in Washington, D.C.”

“From afar, I’ve admired Bradley as an All-NBA player and a difference-maker in his communities,” Winger said. “We were pleased to work together to find a deal that moved us closer to our goal of eventually competing for championships while getting Bradley to a place where he’ll be able to do so immediately. We wish Bradley and his entire family the best of luck in Phoenix and thank him on behalf of the organization, the fans and the city of Washington for his immeasurable contributions.”

The Suns issued a statement of their own expressing excitement about the acquisition of Beal.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bradley, Jordan and Isaiah to the Phoenix Suns as we continue to build one of the premier organizations in all of sports,” Suns owner Mat Ishbia said. “Bradley Beal is one of the best players in the NBA and brings so much to our team including incredible work ethic, great character, and the mindset of a champion. Jordan and Isaiah add talent and versatility to our roster that will continue to make this team among the league’s best. We are committed to bringing an NBA championship to Phoenix and I could not be more excited about how this organization is coming together heading into the upcoming season.”

The Wizards have already agreed to a separate trade that will send Paul on to Golden State for a package headed by Jordan Poole, but referred to Shamet within today’s press release as someone who will be a “valuable contributor to our organization,” which suggests they plan to hang onto him.

For more details on the Beal trade, you can read our original story here and our Thursday follow-up here. We also have separate full stories detailing the Wizards’ move up to No. 7 and their trade agreement with the Warriors involving Paul and Poole.

Wizards To Receive Six Second-Rounders, Four Pick Swaps, Cash In Beal Trade

June 22nd, 2023 at 5:16pm CST by Luke Adams

5:16pm: The Wizards will receive about $3.5MM in cash from the Suns as part of the deal, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7.

2:58pm: The Wizards and Suns have finalized their Bradley Beal trade agreement, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).

The blockbuster deal is not yet official, but the two sides have formally agreed on the terms. They are as follows, according to Wojnarowski:

Suns to acquire Beal, Jordan Goodwin, and Isaiah Todd.
Wizards to acquire Chris Paul; Landry Shamet; the Suns’ second-round picks in 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2030; first-round pick swaps in 2024, 2026, 2028, and 2030; and cash.
- Note: Paul will be flipped to Golden State in a separate trade.

It was previously reported that Goodwin and Todd would go to Phoenix as part of the package, and we knew that the Wizards were receiving “multiple” second-round picks and first-round swaps. However, it’s news that Phoenix is sending every second-rounder and first-round swap it possibly can to Washington.

NBA teams can only trade picks for up to seven drafts in the future, so this deal will have to wait until after Thursday’s draft is officially completed, since it includes assets from 2030.

The Suns previously traded away their 2029 second-round selection, so they’ll send the Wizards their six remaining tradable second-rounders.

Phoenix also previously dealt its 2025, 2027, and 2029 first-round picks to Brooklyn and gave the Nets the right to swap first-round picks with the Suns in 2028. The Suns will be able to offer Washington the ability to swap first-rounders with Phoenix in 2024, 2026, and 2030 and the ability to swap the Wizards’ own first-rounder with the least favorable of the Suns’ and Nets’ picks in 2028.

There’s also a scenario in which the Wizards would be able to swap their own first-rounder for the Sixers’ pick in 2028 if the Suns end up with that one instead of their own or Brooklyn’s, but that would require a specific set of outcomes and is probably a long shot.

A previous report stated that the Wizards and Suns are hoping to complete their trade call with the NBA on Friday. For cap-related reasons, the Beal trade will have to be completed in June, while the subsequent Paul trade with the Warriors will be finalized in July, tweets cap expert Albert Nahmad.

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