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Southeast Notes: Bryant, Carter-Williams, Graham

March 28th, 2019 at 4:01pm CST by Austin Kent

The Wizards have long been eliminated from playoff contention, but second-year big man Thomas Bryant is taking every late-season opportunity to establish himself as a long-term rotation piece for the club, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post writes.

Bryant recently impressed for the Wizards as the team closed out a tight contest against Phoenix. Bryant’s game-winning bucket, his second of the year, capped off a night in which he racked up 18 points and 19 rebounds, outplaying 2018 first-overall pick Deandre Ayton.

“My teammates believe in me. It’s a real big thing,” the Wizards big man told Buckner. “I give it all to my teammates, they believe in me to make that shot, time and time after I missed so many shots this month, this year. To have that confidence is great.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

  • While his stats don’t jump off the page, Michael Carter-Williams has made an impact during his brief stay thus far with the Magic, John Denton of the Magic’s official site writes. Carter-Williams’ length and versatility have contributed to several late-season wins but his future with the franchise is up in the air.
  • Veteran Tony Parker will cede playing time to Devonte’ Graham, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets. Hornets coach James Borrego would like to give the 24-year-old additional experience and Parker is on board.
  • If Kelly Olynyk logs 89 minutes over the final eight games of the regular season, he’ll earn a $1MM bonus built into his contract with the Heat, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes. That’s likely but not necessarily guaranteed. “It’s like one of those things that if you want it too much, you’re not going to get it,” Olynyk said. “You’ve just got to focus on the team and winning and the rest will fall into place where it may.“
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Southeast Notes: Walker, Dragic, Fultz, Bryant

February 13th, 2019 at 8:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

It’s not a guarantee that he’ll stay with the Hornets, but Kemba Walker is serving as Charlotte’s unofficial host for All-Star Weekend, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. “Welcome everyone to my city!” Walker tweeted today as a greeting to the thousands of visitors headed to Charlotte for three days of festivities.

“This city has embraced me so much over the years,” Walker said. “Allowed me to be who I am. Allowed me to play through my mistakes early in my career, to become the player I am today. The fans have just been top notch, and I respect that because we haven’t been a top organization, haven’t gone to the playoffs every year. … Through that, they still embrace us, still embrace me. You have to respect that.”

Walker, who holds nearly every franchise scoring record, will be one of the hottest names on this year’s free agent market. A three-time All-Star, he is in the middle of his most productive season, averaging career highs with 25.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists per night. Despite Walker’s affection for Charlotte, Bonnell states that it’s hard to predict what will happen this summer.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • Heat guard Goran Dragic is “making a lot of progress” after having knee surgery in December, but coach Erik Spoelstra tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald there’s still no timetable for his return. Miami has been expecting him to be ready soon after the All-Star break. In the same story, Spoelstra says Ryan Anderson, who has only played two minutes since being acquired from the Suns, is ready for a larger role if needed.
  • Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac, both top six selections in the 2017 draft, have a chance to prove themselves with the Magic after battling injuries early in their careers, notes Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando’s front office believes Fultz, who was acquired from the Sixers last week, can become a standout point guard because of his strength, explosiveness, court vision and playmaking.
  • Wizards center Thomas Bryant reached starter criteria this week by starting his 41st game of the season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The qualifying offer for the upcoming free agent has been increased to $3MM and Washington’s cap hold has been raised as well. Dwight Howard was supposed to be the starting center after signing with the Wizards last summer, but Bryant seized the opportunity when Howard was injured.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/15/18

November 15th, 2018 at 9:57pm CST by JD Shaw

Here are Thursday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

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Wizards Notes: Leonsis, Beal, Satoransky, Brown

November 4th, 2018 at 10:56am CST by Arthur Hill

A couple of recent comments by Wizards owner Ted Leonsis suggest he is running short on patience with the team’s 1-7 start, relays Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Leonsis, who attended Saturday’s debut game for the G League’s Capital City Go-Go, responded to a comment from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver about increased scoring around the league. “They just have to play us,” Leonsis said about teams wanting to score more points.

Leonsis was still frustrated after watching his team surrender 79 points in the first half — and 134 overall — in Friday’s loss to the Thunder. “When you score 125 points and you’re losing by 25, it usually says you need to play a little bit of defense,” he said afterward. “Right now, we really have to get a structure in place and especially defend the three-ball.”

Leonsis issued a “no-excuses” ultimatum to the organization before the start of the season, making it clear that he expected a title contender. Hughes notes that Leonsis has a right to want a return on his investment after giving the team a $133MM payroll, a highly paid head coach and a newly built, state-of-the-art practice facility.

There’s more today out of Washington:

  • The Wizards are paying the price for years of failing to make bold moves, writes Michael Lee of The Athletic. They traded away a lottery pick in 2009 and passed on the chance to get Stephen Curry; they let a team leader in Paul Pierce get away and replaced him with Jared Dudley; and they refused to admit that last year’s problems went beyond John Wall‘s extended absence with a knee injury. An unidentified scout predicts major changes in Washington once the season ends, saying, “April 9, “That’s it for these guys.”
  • All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal says the team has to ignore the negativity in order to turn the season around, Lee shares in the same piece. Beal is putting together his best season, posting a 23.1/4.0/3.8 line through eight games, but it hasn’t translated into victories. “I’m a leader of this team,” he said. “I’ve been here for seven years. I refuse to have any type of ship sinking. I can’t let it sink without fighting.”
  • Hughes offers several suggestions for coach Scott Brooks to shake things up in a separate story. His ideas include changing the starting lineup, giving more minutes to Tomas Satoransky or rookie Troy Brown and offering Jason Smith or Thomas Bryant a chance to crack the rotation.
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Wizards Notes: Rivers, Howard, Green, Bryant

July 4th, 2018 at 8:42pm CST by clarkcrum

It was already common knowledge that the NBA’s Western Conference has long been stronger than the Eastern Conference. Critics continue to call for a conference realignment even when the odds of it happening are slim to none.

But now that the game’s best player has moved from the East to the West, the gap has widened even more, leaving many Eastern Conference players, including newly acquired Wizards’ guard Austin Rivers, more confident in their team’s chances to make a run at the NBA Finals, reports Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.

“This training camp, this season is just gonna be a different type of mindset,” Rivers said. “[Before] you would play and you know you’re going to run into Golden State. Here, in the East, it’s really like everybody can get there. You can go to the Finals or the conference finals if you’re a playoff-caliber team, which this team is. 

I think that puts a different confidence, focus and energy on a team. I think that will probably be a focal point in training camp, I’m sure the coaches and everyone will say this is something we need to take advantage of.” 

Per Hughes, Rivers did acknowledge that the Celtics are probably the favorites now, having been Eastern Conference runners-up the last two seasons despite missing two of their best players during the 2017/18 playoffs. But, Rivers is excited to see what he and his new teammates are capable of after falling short in the playoffs in four of the last five seasons.

There’s more out of the D.C. area tonight:

  • Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated takes a look at the Wizards’ reported free agent signings of veterans Jeff Green and Dwight Howard. Woo gives both signings a “B” grade, calling both moves thrifty and low-risk due in large part to the one-year length of both deals.
  • In another piece for NBC Sports Washington, Hughes gives his own analysis of the Howard signing, agreeing that the move is low-risk, high-reward. Hughes writes that Howard gives Washington an upgrade from last season at center and that he should be at his best surrounded by three-point shooters like Otto Porter and Bradley Beal.
  • In another, albeit more under-the-radar move we relayed earlier this week, the Wizards claimed promising young big man Thomas Bryant off waivers from the Lakers after he was cut to increase L.A.’s cap room.
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Wizards Claim Thomas Bryant Off Waivers

July 2nd, 2018 at 4:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have claimed second-year center Thomas Bryant off waivers from the Lakers, sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Bryant was cut by the Lakers on Saturday to create a little extra cap flexibility in advance of free agency.

Bryant, the 42nd overall pick in the 2017 draft, appeared in 15 games for the Lakers last season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.6 minutes per game. He saw more action in the G League, posting 19.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and a .597/.364/.674 shooting line in 37 games for the South Bay Lakers.

According to salary data from Basketball Insiders and ESPN, Bryant’s contract includes a $1,378,242 non-guaranteed salary for 2018/19, which is set to become guaranteed if the young center remains under contract through Thursday. Theoretically then, Washington still has the opportunity to avoid Bryant’s guarantee, but the club likely wouldn’t have placed a claim on him if it didn’t plan to keep him for more than three days.

Teams generally require cap room or a trade exception to claim a player off waivers, but because Bryant is on a two-year, minimum-salary deal, any club was eligible to place a claim.

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Thomas Bryant Waived By Lakers

June 30th, 2018 at 3:09pm CST by clarkcrum

Pursuant to an official release from the team, the Lakers have waived backup center Thomas Bryant.

Bryant appeared in 15 games for the Lakers last season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.6 minutes per game.

Bryant’s $1.38MM contract wasn’t set to become guaranteed until July 5, but with the Lakers reportedly planning to guarantee the contract of center Ivica Zubac for next season and the addition of first-round pick Moritz Wagner, there was evidently no need to keep Bryant around any longer.

The Lakers don’t have any more non-guaranteed contracts left on which to make decisions, but they’ll likely still need to do something with the contract of Luol Deng if they want to land two marquee free agents this summer such as LeBron James and Paul George.

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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 4/7/18

April 7th, 2018 at 7:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Here are Saturday’s G League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:

  • The Lakers recalled center Thomas Bryant and forward Travis Wear from their South Bay affiliate, the G League team tweeted. The South Bay season is over following a loss to Austin in the Western Conference Finals.
  • The Hawks announced the recall of forwards Tyler Cavanaugh and Jeremy Evans from their Erie affiliate, which lost to Raptors 905 in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/28/18

March 28th, 2018 at 7:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Wednesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

7:40pm:

  • After participating in today’s practice with the South Bay Lakers, Thomas Bryant has been recalled to the NBA, the Lakers announced (via Twitter). Bryant, who will be in uniform for L.A.’s game on Wednesday night, has posted 19.7 PPG and 7.4 RPG in 37 G League games this season.

7:24pm:

  • The Rockets assigned young bigs Zhou Qi and Chinanu Onuaku to the G League today, the team announced (Twitter link via Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston). Houston’s affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, will be in action on Friday night, hosting the Texas Legends in the NBAGL playoffs.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/26/18

March 26th, 2018 at 7:19pm CST by marksuleymanov

Here are Monday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

  • Lakers‘ rookie big man Thomas Bryant has been recalled from the South Bay Lakers, the team announced today. Bryant, 20, has averaged 19.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 37 G League games this season.
  • The Pacers assigned center Ike Anigbogu to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team’s G League affiliate, the team announced. Anigbogu has appeared in 10 games with Indiana, averaging 1.3 PPG and 0.9 RPG.
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