- The Wizards’ rotation is filled with questions in the aftermath of the Russell Westbrook trade. The Athletic’s Fred Katz and John Hollinger take a closer look at how things may shake out.
The Wizards have plenty of options at the forward spots and that makes it difficult to project what will happen with Davis Bertans, Fred Katz of The Athletic notes. Bertans had a disappointing season after being re-signed on a five-year, $80MM contract. If Bertans drains 3-pointers at a prolific rate, he’ll play regularly. But if he gets off to a slow start, Washington will have a difficult decision to make regarding the highly-paid stretch four.
Undrafted rookie small forward Kyree Walker is set to join the Wizards for the club’s training camp this season, reports Jordan Schultz of ESPN (Twitter link).
Specifics on the agreement are not yet available. However, it will most likely be an Exhibit 10 contract, generally the standard deal provided to camp invitees.
The 6’6″ swingman had committed to Arizona State before ultimately opting out of his college eligibility to train with Chameleon BX, a yearlong draft preparation program.
Walker joined Washington’s roster for this season’s Las Vegas Summer League. He has been placed in the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols and is set to miss the rest of the Summer League session this year, though he continues to test negative for the novel coronavirus, per Schultz.
- Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard wasn’t planning to trade Russell Westbrook this summer, but he changed course when the opportunity arose to send him to the Lakers, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “I had a heart-to-heart with Russell and it was important to him that I knew and the Wizards knew he wants to play here,” Sheppard said. “If there was ever an opportunity with the Lakers, that would be the one place. I look at his Hall-of-Fame career and all he did for us, certainly, for me, I will try to help a guy as long as it helps the Wizards. In this case, we could do a deal and it did help the Wizards.”
The Heat‘s rotation could look pretty thin this season, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
After the main eight-man rotation of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, P.J. Tucker, Markieff Morris, and Dewayne Dedmon, there are a lot of question marks. Victor Oladipo is still recovering from his quad surgery, KZ Okpala has yet to prove himself as ready to play real minutes, and Udonis Haslem‘s status is up in the air.
The ability of at least one of Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, or Omer Yurtseven to break through will be crucial. Strus and Yurtseven have been two of the top performers in Summer League, and the Heat will be hoping their renowned player development program can turn them into immediate contributors.
We have more from around the Southeast Division:
- Magic prize rookie Jalen Suggs will miss the remainder of Summer League with a sprained left thumb, according to a tweet from the team’s PR account. Suggs had an impressive Summer League, averaging 15.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.3 APG and 1.7 SPG while showcasing impressive scoring and defensive instincts. The move is a precautionary one, so it shouldn’t impact his status for training camp next month.
- ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Instagram video) breaks down the contract signed by Isaiah Todd, the 31st pick in the draft for the Wizards. The four-year, $6.9MM contract will pay Todd $1.5MM in year one, about $600K more than the minimum. The first three years are guaranteed with a $2MM team option in year four. Marks adds it’s likely the team option is declined in year four in order to make Todd a restricted free agent. Keith Smith of Spotrac has the year-by-year breakdown here.
- Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald writes that the Heat, in their offseason dealing, essentially chose the path that would allow them to sign Tucker, rather than keeping Precious Achiuwa and signing someone else (ie. Jeff Green) using the $4.9MM room exception. Jackson adds that Summer League standout Marcus Garrett is a top candidate for one of the Heat’s two two-way contracts.
- Heat big man Udonis Haslem is still deciding what his future holds when he eventually retires from basketball, but is happy to continue his playing career for now, as Winderman writes. Appearing on teammate Duncan Robinson‘s podcast, Haslem said: “Miami is my home, it’s my city. Why not still be a part of what’s going on there and still be able to move the needle and impact and hopefully win more championships?” Haslem added that team ownership has been on his mind for a long time, and that he’s had many conversations with ex-teammate Dwyane Wade on the subject.
Speaking today to reporters, Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said that Spencer Dinwiddie is further along in his recovery from an ACL tear than Thomas Bryant is, as Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets. Dinwiddie sustained a partially torn ACL in late December, while Bryant suffered the same injury just a couple weeks later.
According to Sheppard, Dinwiddie is on track to progress to 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 scrimmages, while Bryant has not been fully cleared for basketball activities yet.
“I can’t see Thomas necessarily being in our first game,” Sheppard said.
A previous report indicated that the Wizards may be targeting a December return for Bryant.
Here’s more out of D.C.:
- Sheppard confirmed a report that the Wizards tried to trade for Aaron Holiday in the past before acquiring him this offseason. “Usually, trade deadline calls, trades that don’t work out kinda resurface in the summer,” Sheppard said (Twitter link via Katz).
- Sheppard was asked today about whether the roles for young forwards Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija will changes in 2021/22 as a result of the Wizards’ influx of depth. As Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington relays (via Twitter), the Wizards’ GM said he thinks Hachimura will remain in the starting lineup, but Avdija – who started 32 of his 54 games as a rookie – is more likely to be part of the second unit.
- Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, acquired from the Lakers in the Russell Westbrook blockbuster, will bring specific skill sets to a revamped Wizards roster, writes Kareem Copeland of The Washington Post. Caldwell-Pope, in particular, is the kind of three-and-D wing the team has been lacking.
The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $112,414,000 threshold once their cap room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax line of $136,606,000 as well — the Nets and Warriors, for instance, project to have nine-figure tax bills this season as a result of their spending.
The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows clubs like Brooklyn and Golden State to build a significant payroll without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped, as we explain in a glossary entry.
When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception (three years, starting at $5,890,000), that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.
When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron for 2021/22 was set at $143,002,000.
So far, over a third of the teams in the NBA have been willing to hard-cap themselves this offseason. Some teams will have to be aware of that hard cap when they consider any roster move for the rest of the season, but for others it’s just a technicality that won’t affect their plans.
Listed below are the hard-capped teams for the 2021/22 league year, along with how they created a hard cap.
Chicago Bulls
- Acquired Lonzo Ball from Pelicans via sign-and-trade.
- Acquired DeMar DeRozan from Spurs via sign-and-trade.
- Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Alex Caruso.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- Acquired Lauri Markkanen from Bulls via sign-and-trade.
Dallas Mavericks
- Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Reggie Bullock.
- Used bi-annual exception on Sterling Brown.
Houston Rockets
- Acquired Daniel Theis from Bulls via sign-and-trade.
Miami Heat
- Acquired Kyle Lowry from Raptors via sign-and-trade.
- Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on P.J. Tucker.
New Orleans Pelicans
- Acquired Devonte’ Graham from Hornets via sign-and-trade.
- Acquired Garrett Temple from Bulls via sign-and-trade.
New York Knicks
- Acquired Evan Fournier from Celtics via sign-and-trade.
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
San Antonio Spurs
- Acquired Doug McDermott from Pacers via sign-and-trade.
Toronto Raptors
- Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Khem Birch.
Washington Wizards
- Acquired Spencer Dinwiddie from Nets via sign-and-trade.
- Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Isaiah Todd.
This list, which could continue to grow, will continue to be updated throughout the 2021/22 league year as necessary. It can be found anytime in the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site, or in the “Features” menu on our mobile site.
- Newly-signed Wizards guard Spencer Dinwiddie tells Fred Katz of The Athletic that it was excruciating waiting to see whether Washington’s sign-and-trade deal for him – which turned into a five-team trade – would ultimately come together. “They were terrible,” Dinwiddie said of the 48 hours he spent waiting. “They were terrible, because you gotta remember, this wasn’t just, ‘Oh, I’m going to the Wizards and we’re just figuring out the dollars. Is it 58 (million)? Is it 59? Is it 60?’ That wasn’t it. You had to get all these parties to agree, and if any of the parties say no, then the whole trade falls through. … I wasn’t just even relying on Brooklyn and the Wizards to negotiate. I was relying on five, six teams.”
Spencer Dinwiddie is excited for his future with the Wizards and for how he expects to fit with star backcourt mate Bradley Beal, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. According to Hughes, Dinwiddie isn’t phased by the uncertainty surrounding Beal’s long-term status with the Wizards.
“I spoke to him and obviously he’s his own man and his decisions are his own,” Dinwiddie said. “So, I can’t talk about his plans or what he’s going to do. I think that we have a chance to have a (good thing together). If that’s not what comes to fruition then it’s not.”
Dinwiddie added that part of his job is to help Beal by knowing when to get out of the way and let the star shooting guard go to work, as well as knowing when it’s on him to help carry the load.
We have more from the Wizards:
- Dinwiddie had previously been cleared from his ACL recovery, but was unable to start five-on-five activity because the Nets were eliminated just before he was able to get back on the floor, Hughes tweets. Dinwiddie had been vocal about being ready to return to the court if the Nets were able to last to the Finals, but after Brooklyn’s loss to the Bucks in the Eastern Semifinals, those plans were thwarted.
- New head coach Wes Unseld Jr. will be retaining assistant coach Ryan Richman, reports Fred Katz of The Athletic (via Twitter). Richman was an assistant coach with the team last season, and the G League affiliate head coach the year before that. Richman will be a second-row assistant, Katz writes.
- The Wizards also announced the hiring of four assistant coaches to join Unseld and Richman, according to a team statement. Pat Delany, Mike Miller, Joseph Blair and Zach Guthrie will join the Wizards’ bench this season. Washington also announced that in addition to Richman, the team retained assistant coach Dean Oliver and promoted Alex McLean to assistant coach/Director of Player Development.
The Wizards have officially signed undrafted rookie free agent Jay Huff to a one-year contract, according to RealGM’s transactions log. Fred Katz of The Athletic previously reported that the deal will be a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract.
A 7’1″ forward/center, Huff spent his college career at Virginia and was a full-time starter for the first time as a senior in 2020/21. He averaged 13.0 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 2.6 BPG with a stellar .585/.387/.837 shooting line in 25 games (27.0 MPG).
Huff, who won a national title in 2019, made the All-ACC Second Team and the ACC All-Defensive Team in 2021.
Washington has also reportedly agreed to sign former Saint Louis guard Jordan Goodwin to an Exhibit 10, but there’s no indication that deal is official yet.