Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Risacher, Sarr, Sheppard, LeBron, TV Package, Beverley

July 27th, 2024 at 11:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

The top two picks in the draft — Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr — were also two of the biggest disappointments during Summer League action, John Hollinger of The Athletic notes.

The Hawks‘ Risacher shot 11-of-28 from the floor in 59 minutes before being sidelined by a quad contusion. The Wizards‘ Sarr shot 0-of-15 from the field in his third game and only scored two points in his fourth outing. The Pacers‘ Jarace Walker and Timberwolves‘ Rob Dillingham were among the other notable players who struggled in Vegas.

On the flip side, third overall pick Reed Sheppard of the Rockets showcased his all-around skills, Hollinger writes. Another standout was Scotty Pippen Jr., who made a strong case to be the Grizzlies‘ backup point guard.

The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann and ESPN’s experts also shared their thoughts on the biggest takeaways from Summer League action.

We have more from around the basketball world:

LeBron James ranks No. 1 among the top 25 players in this century, according to a poll of ESPN experts. Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal round out the top five.
The new broadcasting deals signed by the league with Disney, NBC and Amazon include national broadcasts on every day of the week during the regular season. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps provides more details on the rights packages.
Patrick Beverley will not face criminal charges for throwing a basketball at a Pacers fan during the playoffs, The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov tweets. A Marion County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman said the county won’t bring charges after it reviewed the Indianapolis police department investigation. Beverley is expected to play with an Israeli team next season.

Anthony Gill Re-Signs With Wizards

July 25th, 2024 at 1:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

1:58pm: While we don’t yet know the terms of the contract, Gill has officially re-signed with the Wizards, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

10:25am: Free agent forward Anthony Gill is re-signing with the Wizards, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps tweets.

Gill, 31, has played the last four seasons with Washington. Last season, he appeared in 50 games (three starts) and averaged 3.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in 9.3 minutes per contest.

Gill reached double figures in points in six of the last 11 games of the season when he saw regular playing time on a depleted roster. His two-year, veteran’s-minimum deal expired at the end of the season.

He’ll add depth, experience and leadership to a mostly young roster. No details of the agreement have been reported but the addition of Gill would give the Wizards 19 players on their training camp roster, including 17 on standard contracts. Two of those players on standard deals (Eugene Omoruyi and Jared Butler) have non-guaranteed salaries.

Over his four-year career, Gill has averaged 3.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per game across 179 outings.

Gill had reportedly drawn interest from multiple European teams, including Barcelona and Anadolu Efes, but preferred to remain in the NBA. Gill started his professional career in Europe, having played for Russian club Khimki from 2017-20 after going undrafted out of Virginia.

Eastern Notes: Valanciunas, Raptors, Pistons, Langdon

July 23rd, 2024 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran center Jonas Valanciunas signed a three-year contract with the Wizards worth in excess of $30MM earlier this month, but the hosts of ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast aren’t expecting the big man to play out that entire deal in D.C. (YouTube link; hat tip to HoopsHype). In fact, Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps suggested they wouldn’t be surprised if Valanciunas is playing elsewhere before the 2024/25 season is over.

“Do we think Jonas Valanciunas will be on offer from the Wizards midway through the season?” Windhorst said. “I wouldn’t rule out Jonas Valanciunas eventually ending up a Laker this year, that’s all I’m going to say.”

“100%,” Bontemps replied. “Or somewhere else besides Washington.”

While Valanciunas figures to slot in as the Wizards’ starting center this fall, the team remains firmly in a rebuilding stage, so if it can get draft assets in exchange for the 32-year-old at next year’s trade deadline, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him on the move in early 2025.

As Windhorst alluded to, Valanciunas was one of the players who was reportedly on LeBron James‘ wish list of “impact” free agents this summer and will likely be more attainable on the trade market that some of the other names on that list (such as James Harden, Klay Thompson, or DeMar DeRozan). So if Valanciunas is available, the Lakers are certainly among the teams who might kick the tires.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca explains how the Raptors made good use of their leverage in their standoff with Sasha Vezenkov and details how their buyout agreement with Vezenkov creates newfound financial flexibility for the team. While Toronto now has about $11.3MM in wiggle room below the luxury tax line, the club may opt to maintain that flexibility in case trade opportunities arise in the fall or during the season, Murphy writes.
In a mailbag for The Athletic, James L. Edwards III considers whether the Pistons still have moves to make this offseason, suggesting that he wouldn’t be surprised if the team explores the idea of signing one of the notable guards or wings left on the free agent market, such as Tyus Jones, Markelle Fultz, or Reggie Bullock. Edwards also weighs the odds of a Jaden Ivey trade, noting that significant minutes could be harder than ever to come by for the former lottery pick if Detroit is committed to playing Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. regularly.
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com shares his early impressions of the Pistons‘ new president of basketball operations, exploring what Trajan Langdon‘s moves during his first two months on the job say about his roster-building approach. As Langlois writes, Langdon’s decisions have made it clear he’s not necessarily looking to get Detroit back to the playoffs as quickly as possible.

Nets’ Jalen Wilson Named Summer League MVP

July 22nd, 2024 at 6:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nets forward Jalen Wilson has been named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League, the league’s communications department tweets.

Wilson averaged 21.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.6 steals while shooting 47.3% from the field and 55.0% from 3-point range in five games in Vegas.

His performances should solidify his spot on the team’s roster this upcoming season. The 23-year-old has a $1.89MM minimum-salary contract for 2024/25 that is currently just partially guaranteed for $75K. It increases to a partial guarantee of $325K if he makes the opening night roster.

Oddly, Wilson was only named to the All-Summer League Second Team. The First Team included the Grizzlies‘ GG Jackson II and Scotty Pippen Jr,, the Clippers‘ Jordan Miller, the Rockets‘ Reed Sheppard and the Heat‘s Kel’el Ware.

The Grizzlies and Heat reached the Summer League championship game. Sheppard, the No. 3 pick in last month’s draft, averaged 20.0 points, 5.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 steals in four Las Vegas outings.

Along with Wilson, the Second Team included the Wizards‘ Carlton Carrington, the Trail Blazers‘ Donovan Clingan, the Heat‘s Jaime Jaquez Jr. and the Pacers‘ Jarace Walker (Twitter links).

And-Ones: Flopping, Tiebreakers, Gill, Aprons, Team USA, Durant

July 18th, 2024 at 9:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s Board of Governors voted this week to make the in-game flopping penalty a permanent part of the league rules, according to a press release. The rule, which charges the offending player with a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul and gives the opposing team a free throw attempt, was adopted ahead of the 2023/24 season on a one-year trial basis and will remain in place going forward.

The Board of Governors also approved a tweak to the tiebreaker rules for the NBA Cup (in-season tournament), removing overtime scoring for the purposes of the point differential and total points scored tiebreakers.

There were scenarios last season in which it would have benefited the winning team to play for overtime – where it could build a bigger margin of victory – rather than trying to win in regulation by a smaller margin. That won’t be the case under the new rules, as an NBA Cup group-stage game that goes to overtime will result in a point differential of zero for both teams, regardless of how the extra period plays out.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Anthony Gill is drawing interest from a pair of EuroLeague teams, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando, who says that Barcelona and Anadolu Efes are eyeing the veteran free agent forward. Gill has spent the past four seasons with the Wizards, appearing in 179 regular season games during that time, almost exclusively as a reserve.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports takes a closer look at how the NBA’s new tax apron rules are impacting teams’ decisions this offseason, suggesting that players whose contracts are heavy on unlikely incentives may become harder to trade going forward. Wizards guard Jordan Poole, Heat guard Tyler Herro, and Nets forward Cameron Johnson are a few of those players, Fischer writes — their deals each include between $2.5MM and $4.25MM in annual incentives. Whether or not they’re earned, those incentives are counted when determining where a team is operating relative to the aprons.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recaps Team USA’s Wednesday win over Serbia, while Joe Vardon of The Athletic provides a handful of takeaways from the squad’s time in Abu Dhabi, which also included an exhibition victory over Australia. Kevin Durant (calf strain) didn’t practice with the club in Abu Dhabi, but is hoping to get on the court in London during Team USA’s final stop before heading to Paris, Vardon writes. The U.S. will face South Sudan on Saturday and Germany on Monday in its last pre-Olympic tune-up games.
The Clippers sent $4.3MM to the Jazz in the Russell Westbrook/Kris Dunn trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), more than covering Westbrook’s $4.03MM salary for the 2024/25 season.

Southeast Notes: Smith, Ware, Sarr, Black

July 18th, 2024 at 10:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

Dru Smith has been waived four times by the Heat during his NBA career. However, they keep coming back to him, the latest example being this summer, when they signed the guard to a two-way contract.

“The way this organization has treated me, it’s unbelievable,” Smith said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “I’m very appreciative of it. At the same time, I’m going to go out there and do everything I can for them, as well. I think the love is reciprocated both ways, which I really appreciate. I just want to continue to get back healthy and then be able to get back out there for this team.”

Smith underwent ACL reconstruction surgery in his right knee, an injury he suffered in November. He’s hopeful that he can return by training camp.

“I think it’s very feasible,” he said. “But you never know, these things are day by day. So as long as everything goes smoothly, I think that’s kind of the plan. But like I said, it’s always up in the air. We just got to make sure everything is going right.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Heat first-rounder Kel’el Ware continues to excel in Summer League action. The former Indiana University center had 24 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday, his third double-double this summer. He also contributed two fourth-quarter blocks. “We continue to challenge him defensively,” Summer League coach Dan Bisaccio told Chiang. “He took that challenge. Everything at the rim was contested. We want to continue to see that. Obviously, this is never enough. But we’re really, really happy with him anchoring our defense.”
Wizards big man Alex Sarr, the second pick in the draft, missed all 15 of his shot attempts in Wednesday’s Summer League game against Portland, ESPN notes. That included seven 3-point tries and he also missed two free throws. He did have nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks in just under 30 minutes. Sarr has shot below 35% in all three of his games in Las Vegas and is shooting 19.5% from the field overall. Sarr spoke to Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina about his goals for his rookie season, including his desire to make an impact at both ends of the floor.
Magic guard Anthony Black didn’t play in Wednesday’s Summer League contest due to a mild ankle sprain, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. He’s averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals in two games this month.

Groups Revealed For 2024 NBA Cup

July 12th, 2024 at 7:28pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The NBA has announced the five-team groups for this year’s in-season tournament, now renamed the Emirates NBA Cup, the league announced in a release on Friday (Twitter link).

Like last year, there are six groups — three each from the Western Conference and Eastern Conference — and each conference was split into five groups based on last year’s standings. One team was selected at random from each group to determine the group round matchups.

The results are:

West Group A: Timberwolves, Clippers, Kings, Rockets and Trail Blazers
West Group B: Thunder, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and Spurs
West Group C: Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors and Grizzlies
East Group A: Knicks, Magic, Sixers, Nets and Hornets
East Group B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors and Pistons
East Group C: Celtics, Cavaliers, Bulls, Hawks and Wizards

The NBA Cup begins with group play, which runs from Nov. 12 to Dec. 3. Each team plays one game against each of the four opponents in its group. The NBA released a matchup matrix to help fans follow along (Twitter link).

Just like last season, the winner of each group advances to a knockout round alongside the team with the best record in each conference that didn’t win a group. The semifinals and finals will again be played in T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Last year, the Lakers won the inaugural in-season tournament over the Pacers. LeBron James was named the tournament MVP after dropping 24 points in the title game.

The full game and broadcast schedule for group play will be announced next month.

Scotto’s Latest: Jones, Kennard, Martin, Okogie, Knicks, Shamet, Klintman

July 12th, 2024 at 6:31pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Clippers are showing interest in free agent guard Tyus Jones in sign-and-trade scenarios, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports in his latest around-the-league notebook.

While this is just speculation on Scotto’s part, the Clippers could look to use some combination of the expiring contracts of P.J. Tucker and Russell Westbrook or draft compensation and Bones Hyland in sign-and-trade scenarios for the Wizards guard.

Jones, our No. 15-ranked free agent, averaged 12.0 points and 7.3 assists per game last season while shooting 48.9% from the field and 41.4% from beyond the arc.

We have more from Scotto:

The leaguewide expectation is that Luke Kennard will return to the Grizzlies after the organization declined his team option before free agency, Scotto writes. Kennard averaged 11.0 PPG on 45.0% shooting from deep last season.
As we noted earlier Friday, it’s likely the Sixers look to use newly signed KJ Martin‘s contract as a trade chip when he becomes eligible to be moved on Jan. 15. The Sixers could trade for a player making $14MM if they packaged Martin alongside three minimum-salary players in a trade.
The Suns gave Josh Okogie a similar deal to what Martin got and could also look to utilize his salary as a trade chip, Scotto reports. However, unlike Martin, Okogie’s deal can’t be aggregated with other players on Phoenix’s roster due to the team’s position relative to the second tax apron.
The Knicks are trying to add both size and shooting to their roster this offseason, Scotto writes. Davis Bertans has previously been mentioned as an option for the Knicks, and they’re also expressing interest in free agent guard Landry Shamet. As reported, New York has shown interest in Walker Kessler but Utah’s asking price remains high. Meanwhile, Precious Achiuwa remains open to a return to New York.
Outside of the Knicks, Scotto reports that Shamet has drawn “exploratory interest” from the Bucks, Heat and Timberwolves. A return to the Wizards isn’t out of the question either.
The Pistons are attempting to finalize a contract with their No. 37 overall pick Bobi Klintman. Klintman is expected to end up on the 15-man roster on a multiyear contract, according to Scotto. The Pistons were intrigued by his size and shooting ability and are hoping to have him on a standard deal.

Eastern Notes: Bickerstaff, Allen, Travers, Bey, Sixers

July 12th, 2024 at 4:04pm CST by Rory Maher

It didn’t take long for J.B. Bickerstaff to find a new job after being fired by Cleveland, having been hired by the Pistons as their new head coach. At his introductory press conference on Wednesday, Bickerstaff discussed why he found Detroit’s vacancy appealing, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.

“It was my conversations with (president of basketball operations) Trajan (Langdon), to begin with,” Bickerstaff said. “I had a great feeling that this organization was heading in the right direction and was being led by the right people. For me, going through some of the things that I’ve gone through in the past, the people that you work with … being of a shared vision and willingness to commit to one another and partner with one another, I thought this group, as a whole, had a great vision. (team owner) Tom (Gores) has given every resource to go out and execute that vision.

“Then, obviously, you study the team. I took a deep dive as soon as I could. Obviously, I have experience of playing against them four times a year for so many years, but I knew the players well. I believed in their ability and talent. There is a steps process that we have to take, and we’re really aware of that and Trajan and I are united in that. It just doesn’t happen for everyone overnight.”

Bickerstaff pointed to his success with Cleveland as proof that he can turn the Pistons around, writes Larry Lage of The Associated Press. Detroit finished with the worst record in the NBA last season. Langdon said he was looking for a veteran coach to lead a young team, as Lage relays.

“You want somebody who can come in here and hit the ground running, and who’s done this before,” Langdon said. “Especially with a young team coming off a difficult season, positivity was important. We felt experience was important. The players needed to feel like the person coming in here knew what he was talking about.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Cavaliers have been receiving trade inquiries on former All-Star center Jarrett Allen, but they continue to rebuff those overtures, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link). Allen, who averaged 16.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.1 BPG in 77 games last season (31.7 MPG), will earn $40MM over the next two seasons.
Australian wing Luke Travers, a second-round pick (No. 56) by the Cavaliers in 2022, is dealing with a sore hamstring that sidelined him for the team’s Summer League opener in Las Vegas on Friday, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Travers has expressed a strong desire to come stateside in 2024/25, though it’s unclear if he’ll be able to earn a roster spot.
New Wizards forward Saddiq Bey will earn $6,440,678 in 2024/25, $6,118,644 in ’25/26, and $6,440,678 again in ’26/27, a source tells cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). Bey will likely miss most — if not all — of his first season with Washington after tearing his ACL in March. The 25-year-old’s new three-year deal also includes $1MM in incentives.
Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer argues that free agent signee Caleb Martin will bring a much-need infusion of “Heat Culture” to the Sixers, pointing to the 28-year-old’s success with Miami as evidence. According to Sielski, the 76ers have had plenty of talent in recent years, but the team has often lacked an identity, which Martin should help fortify with his willingness to make winning energy plays.
Former NBA forward Demetris Nichols has joined the Sixers as a player development coach, per Mike Waters of Syracuse.com (subscriber link). The No. 53 pick of the 2007 draft, Nichols appeared in 18 NBA games with Cleveland, Chicago and New York before spending several years overseas. The 39-year-old was an assistant with Wake Forest last season, Waters notes.

Wizards Sign Saddiq Bey To Three-Year Deal

July 12th, 2024 at 5:55am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: The Wizards have officially signed Bey, according to the NBA’s transaction log.

The three-year deal includes $19MM in guaranteed money, with another $1MM in incentives, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

JULY 10: The Wizards and free agent forward Saddiq Bey have reached an agreement on a three-year, $20MM deal, agents James Dunleavy and Jordan Gertler tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Bey, who began his NBA career with the Pistons, was traded to Atlanta at the 2023 deadline and spent the past season-and-a-half with the Hawks. In 2023/24, he appeared in 63 games for the club, starting 51. He averaged 13.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 32.7 minutes per game on .416/.316/.837 shooting before a torn ACL ended his season in March.

That ACL tear complicated Bey’s free agency this summer. Despite his up-and-down season prior to the injury, a healthy version of the 25-year-old would almost certainly have received his $8.49MM qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent.

However, because Bey could spend most – or all – of the 2024/25 season recovering from ACL surgery, it would have been a risk for Atlanta to put that qualifying offer on the table. The 6’7″ forward could have accepted it, earned $8.49MM while recovering for most of the year, then signed elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent next summer. As a result, the team opted not to issue that QO, making him a UFA this offseason.

While the Hawks and Bey reportedly continued talking after they passed on his qualifying offer, the team is facing a bit of a roster crunch, leaving the former Villanova standout as an odd man out.

Washington, Bey’s hometown team, is going through a significant rebuilding process and won’t need contributions from him right away, making it an ideal fit. If Bey is healthy and productive in the second and third years of the contract, it’ll be a worthwhile investment for the Wizards, who project to be among the NBA’s worst teams in 2024/25 with or without him.

According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Wizards view the former first-round pick as a “tough, hard-nosed culture guy” who will be a good addition to the locker room next season and will help on the court once he gets healthy. Bey’s contract won’t include a team or player option, Robbins adds (via Twitter).

The Wizards still have their entire mid-level exception available after using a trade exception to add Jonas Valanciunas on a three-year, $30MM+ contract via sign-and-trade, so it looks like they’ll use a portion of that MLE to sign Bey. Once the deal is complete, Washington will have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, with two more (Eugene Omoruyi and Jared Butler) on non-guaranteed salaries.