Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Notes: Restart, Schofield, Wall, Wade

June 29th, 2020 at 7:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard vows that the team is focused on making the playoffs despite key players missing the restart in Orlando, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.

“Certainly, we’re going there to win games,” he said. “We’re trying to make the playoffs. That’s 100 percent our goal.”

There has been speculation that Wizards would treat their eight “seeding” games as a de facto Summer League. Forward Davis Bertans, a free agent after the season, has chosen to sit out. Star guard John Wall will wait until next season to return from his Achilles injury. Washington trails Brooklyn by six games and Orlando by 5.5 games and needs to pull within four games of one of those teams to force a play-in round for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

We have more on the Wizards:

Rookie Admiral Schofield is expected to have an expanded role in Orlando with Bertans choosing not to play, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. “There’s going to be an opportunity at some point for Admiral to show what he can do,” Sheppard said. Schofield has appeared in 27 games, averaging 3.1 PPG in 10.9 MPG.
Wall will stay in Miami while the Wizards are in Orlando to work with some coaches that won’t be in the bubble, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets. The lack of practices during the stoppage of play cost Wall the basketball ramp-up timing he’d been gaining in workouts, according to Sheppard.
Washington had some interest in signing power forward Dean Wade, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Wade agreed to a four-year contract with Cleveland on Monday.

List Of Players Opting Out Of NBA’s Restart

June 29th, 2020 at 10:58am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA will resume its 2019/20 season in July, with the league’s top 22 teams taking part in the restart at Walt Disney World in Florida. However, not every player on those 22 clubs’ rosters will be participating in the resumption of the season.

Players will be permitted to voluntarily opt out of the restart for any reason without facing a fine or suspension from the NBA or their respective teams. A player who opts out would lose a portion of his pay for 2019/20, forfeiting 1/92.6th of his salary for each game missed (up to a maximum of 14 games). Otherwise though, he wouldn’t receive any additional penalty.

If a player voluntarily opts out anytime before August 14, his team can sign a “substitute player” to replace him. The replacement player will receive a rest-of-season, minimum-salary contract and will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, regardless of how many years of NBA service he has. Meanwhile, the player being replaced becomes ineligible to participate in the remainder of the ’19/20 season.

We’ll use this space to keep tabs on the players opting out and the substitute players replacing them. Here are the players who have voluntarily withdrawn from participating:

Trevor Ariza, F, Trail Blazers (story)

Ariza would have missed a one-month visitation period with his son if he had opted to play this summer, since family members aren’t permitted to join players on the NBA’s Disney campus until the end of August.

Jaylen Adams, who finished second this season in NBA G League MVP voting, will take Ariza’s spot on the roster as a substitute player.

Ariza, meanwhile, has a $12.8MM salary for 2020/21, but it’s only partially guaranteed for $1.8MM, so he’s no lock to remain on Portland’s roster beyond this season.

Avery Bradley, G, Lakers (story)

Bradley is the most intriguing player to have opted out so far, since he’s the only one who’s a member of a legitimate championship contender. Although Bradley has been among the players voicing concerns about the resumption of the season drawing attention away from the fight for social justice, family considerations – including the well-being of his three children – were said to be the primary factor in his decision.

Bradley has a $5MM player option for 2020/21, so he could return to the Lakers next season. As for his replacement, L.A. has signed J.R. Smith to a rest-of-season deal.

Davis Bertans, F, Wizards (story)

The first player to opt out of the restart, Bertans did so because he has a history of ACL injuries and doesn’t want to jeopardize his health ahead of a potentially big payday this summer. He projects to be one of 2020’s top unrestricted free agents, following a career year, and his decision won’t affect the Wizards’ desire to re-sign him — it’s still considered a top priority for the franchise.

If Washington were higher in the standings, Bertans may have made a different decision, but the team faces long odds to even make the playoffs. And even if the Wizards do defy those odds and claim the No. 8 seed, the Bucks would likely make quick work of them in round one.

Point guard Jerian Grant has replaced Bertans on the Wizards’ roster as a subsitute player.

Willie Cauley-Stein, C, Mavericks (story)

Cauley-Stein and his partner are expecting a newborn child in July, prompting him to skip the restart to spend time with his family. With a $2.29MM player option for 2020/21, he could still return to Dallas next season.

Despite missing Cauley-Stein and injured big man Dwight Powell in their frontcourt, the Mavs didn’t make it a priority to add another center. With Courtney Lee and Jalen Brunson also on the shelf due to injuries, Dallas instead focused on adding backcourt depth, reaching a deal with veteran guard Trey Burke to become the substitute player for Cauley-Stein.

Wilson Chandler, F, Nets (story)

An unrestricted free agent at season’s end, Chandler has decided to use the summer to spend more time with his family, including his grandmother (who raised him) and his three children.

Like the Mavs, Brooklyn has been hit hard by injuries, with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Nicolas Claxton also sidelined for the return to play. Those injured players aren’t eligible to be replaced by a substitute player, but Chandler is. That substitute player is Lance Thomas, who has now signed with the Nets.

Thabo Sefolosha, F, Rockets (story)

Sefolosha, who opted out on July 1, had previously expressed concerns about heading to Walt Disney World for an extended duration of time, away from his family with the coronavirus pandemic still on the rise, calling it a “huge commitment.” He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this fall, so it’s possible he has played his last game with Houston.

The Rockets have signed Luc Mbah a Moute as a replacement player for Sefolosha. Mbah a Moute has previous experience with Houston, so it should be a quick readjustment for the veteran forward.

Caleb Swanigan, F, Trail Blazers

Swanigan cited person reasons when he decided to opt out of the NBA’s restart back on July 1. He rarely saw any action for the Blazers, who decided not to sign a substitute player to replace him. Swanigan will be an unrestricted free agent this fall.

In addition to the players who are voluntarily opting out of the restart for a wide variety of reasons, there will also be players who opt out or are replaced as a result of a COVID-19 diagnosis. Here are the players who won’t participate in the remainder of the season due to a positive COVID-19 test:

Spencer Dinwiddie, G, Nets (story)
- Dinwiddie had hoped to participate, but he and the Nets’ team doctors ultimately decided he should sit out. Brooklyn has signed Jamal Crawford to replace him.
DeAndre Jordan, C, Nets (story)
- Jordan was immediately ruled out for the summer after testing positive for the coronavirus. He has been replaced in Orlando by big man Donta Hall.
Taurean Prince, F, Nets (story)
- Prince tested positive just before the Nets were scheduled to travel to Orlando. The team ruled him out because his chances of recovering in time to contribute were in jeopardy and signed Michael Beasley as a substitute player.
Michael Beasley, F, Nets (story)
- Beasley became the first substitute player who needed to be replaced, having tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after he signed with the Nets. Brooklyn signed Justin Anderson after voiding Beasley’s new contract.
Josh Gray, G (story)
- The Pelicans announced in early July that they’d signed Sindarius Thornwell as a substitute player, without indicating which player Thornwell was replacing. Three Pelicans had tested positive for COVID-19 at that point, and a subsequent report suggested one of those players was being replaced by Thornwell. When the NBA announced New Orleans’ official roster, Gray wasn’t on it, so it appears that he was the one replaced by Thornwell.
Gary Payton II, G (story)
- The Wizards signed Jarrod Uthoff as a substitute player without announcing which player he’d be replacing. However, Payton reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 and wasn’t on the team’s official roster when it was announced, so it looks like he was the one replaced by Uthoff.

Players who have been ruled out of the restart due to injuries won’t forfeit their salaries and aren’t eligible to be replaced by substitute players, so they’re not listed here. However, that growing list of players is not insignificant — it includes Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and John Wall, among others.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Southeast Notes: Wall, Magic, Batum, Hornets

June 27th, 2020 at 12:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

John Wall was feeling like his old self again before the NBA’s hiatus forced him to curtail his workouts, writes Fred Katz of The Athletic. The five-time All-Star, who has missed the entire season after a ruptured Achilles and surgery to remove a bone spur, was playing three-on-three games with teammates during the Wizards‘ last road trip before the shutdown.

“I was out there dunking, crossing over, getting to the rim, doing stuff I was doing before. And I was like, damn, I still got, like, 15 pounds to get off of before I start playing next season. And I’m like, OK, I got six or seven months to get better,” Wall said. “So, I was gonna do nothing but get stronger, get more rhythm, get more in sync with everything.”

Wall has a gym in his Miami home, but he has been limited to half-court workouts with no competition. He won’t take the court when Washington resumes the season in Orlando, but said the discomfort he used to feel every day is gone. The focus all year has been getting ready for next season.

“When I get back to getting on the court when things open up, I’m not rushing anything,” Wall said. “I’m easing my way into it, because I know I can’t just jump back out there. That’s how you end up getting yourself hurt. … It’s gonna take me time to be patient with it. It’s frustrating because you already got a rhythm. You already was like — I was having fun. I was in a rhythm, having fun. It was just dope to be hooping.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

A pair of games with the Nets will go a long way toward determining whether the Magic can overtake Brooklyn for the seventh seed and avoid a daunting first-round match-up with Milwaukee, observes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “I think what’s going to help us the most is just being in better shape than the guys we’re going to play against,” Evan Fournier said. “I think that’s what it’s going to come down to. How fast can you get in shape? And how fast can you get together as a team? That’s what’s going to make the difference.”
The Hornets will be one of the few teams with cap space this offseason, but GM Mitch Kupchak doesn’t plan to make a major move in free agency until next year, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. That means Nicolas Batum will likely finish out his contract in Charlotte unless Kupchak can find a way to trade him without taking back any future guaranteed money.
Even though Devonte’ Graham had a breakthrough season and Terry Rozier is under contract for two more years, the Hornets won’t hesitate to take another point guard in a draft that is loaded with them, Bonnell adds in the same piece.

Pelicans-Jazz Begins NBA Restart On July 30

June 26th, 2020 at 6:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans and rookie star Zion Williamson will face the Jazz on July 30 at 6:30 p.m. ET in the first game of the NBA’s restart, the league announced on Friday.

There will be 88 “seeding” games from July 30 to August 14 prior to the postseason.

The Clippers will square off against the Lakers in the second game on July 30 at 9 p.m. ET. The first two games will be broadcast by TNT.

It will get very busy the next day with six games scheduled, highlighted by Celtics vs. Bucks and Rockets vs. Mavericks. There will be a maximum of seven games per day, with start times ranging from 12-9 p.m.

At the conclusion of the seeding games, the seven teams in each conference with the highest combined winning percentages across regular-season games and seeding games will be the first through seventh seeds for the conference playoffs. If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage (regular-season games and seeding games) in a conference is more than four games ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then the team with the eighth-best winning percentage would be the No. 8 seed.

If the team with the eighth-best combined winning percentage in a conference is four games or fewer ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined winning percentage in the same conference, then those two teams would compete in a play-in tournament to determine the No. 8 playoff seed in the conference. The play-in tournament will be double elimination for the eighth-place team and single elimination for the ninth-place team.

Much of the intrigue regarding the seeding games concerns the final Western Conference spot. The Grizzlies, currently eighth, hold a 3 1/2-game lead over the Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Kings, a four-game lead over the Spurs and a six-game advantage on the Suns.

Memphis will face the Blazers, Spurs, Pelicans, Jazz, Thunder, Raptors, Celtics and Bucks during the seeding round. Among the Grizzlies’ pursuers, the Pelicans appear to have the weakest schedule. After opening against the Jazz, they’ll face the Clippers, Grizzlies, Kings (twice), Wizards, Spurs and Magic.

The Nets and Magic need only to hold off the Wizards in the East to claim the final two spots in their conference. Washington trails Brooklyn by six games and Orlando by 5 1/2 games.

The breakdown of each team’s seeding schedule can be found here. The day-by-day schedule and national TV schedule can be found here.

Southeast Notes: Fournier, Bertans, Gordon

June 23rd, 2020 at 7:00pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Evan Fournier is not a fan of Wizards forward Davis Bertans sitting out of the NBA’s return. The Magic wing tweeted, “This is what’s wrong with the NBA nowadays” in response to the report that Bertans wasn’t going to Orlando.

“Seriously tho. If you think its ok to sit and watch your teammates play while you re perfectly healthy its says a lot about you,” Fournier continued in a second tweet.

Bertans, who is one of multiple NBA players expected to sit out the resumed season in Florida, will be a free agent at the end of the season, though the Magic are not expected to have the cap space to make a reasonable offer to the 27-year-old power forward, so Fournier will not have to worry about Bertans joining his team.

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

Heat swingman Derrick Jones plans to play when the NBA returns, as Anthony Chang of The Miami Herald relays. Jones will hit free agency after the season and figures to be in line for a significant raise after earning the minimum during his first four NBA seasons.
Trading Aaron Gordon for a perimeter threat could be the best way to maximize the talent on the Magic, John Hollinger writes for The Athletic. Trading away Gordon would allow Jonathan Isaac more playing time.
Clint Capela, who was traded to the Hawks at the trade deadline, recently spoke about what it takes to win in the league, which is something he’ll look to help his young teammates learn. “The main goal is really to be a winning team, have this winning mentality, be able to night in, night out go get wins,” Capela said (via Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “…It doesn’t matter if you play good or bad, but you have to have that dog mentality to make stops, to at least get a win.”

Wizards Look To Sign Bertans Replacement

June 22nd, 2020 at 6:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Wizards plan to add a player to replace forward Davis Bertans on the roster when the season resumes in Orlando, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington reports.

Bertans, an unrestricted free agent after the season, has decided not to suit up during the restart. Washington will look for a player who could prove useful in Orlando and thus have ruled out DeMarcus Cousins, who tore his ACL in August and was waived by the Lakers in February. Cousins is still rehabbing the injury.

The Wizards won’t necessarily sign a stretch four to fortify that spot. They could sign a 3-point shooter at another position, Hughes continues. Rookie Rui Hachimura will see his offensive role expands in Bertans’ absence, Hughes adds.

Bertans’ agent, Arturs Kalnitis, told Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype that Bertans reached his decision in recent days.

“To be completely honest, Davis was prepared to play and then he made a last-minute decision to sit out,” Kalnitis said. “We’re playing the cards that we were dealt. When the NBA announced that players who sit out wouldn’t face consequences and would just lose one percent of their salary for each game missed, we sat down to discuss this. Davis is about to sign the biggest deal of his life, so he would be taking a big risk by playing.”

Bertans has battled ACL injuries during his career but Kalnitis said the possibility of injury after a long layoff was just one of the factors that led to his client’s decision.

“The injury risk played a role in Davis’ decision, but it wasn’t the only factor,” Kalnitis told Kennecdy. “I haven’t mentioned this before, but Davis has an insurance policy that kicked in at the start of the season so if he gets injured, he has a big, fat check coming his way. So, it wasn’t just the injury risk.”

Davis Bertans To Sit Out NBA Restart

June 22nd, 2020 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

Wizards forward Davis Bertans has decided to sit out when the NBA resumes its season next month, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps of ESPN (via Twitter).

As Wojnarowski notes, Bertans has suffered a pair of ACL injuries in the past and will be entering free agency this offseason on the heels of a career year. It’s not clear whether Bertans has any additional safety concerns related to COVID-19, but if he suffers an injury this summer, it could diminish his value as he seeks a new contract in the coming months.

Of course, it’s also worth noting that – with or without Bertans – the Wizards aren’t exactly championship contenders. Already missing star point guard John Wall, Washington will enter the restart trailing the Magic for the No. 8 seed in the East by 5.5 games. In order to earn a playoff spot, the Wizards would have to gain at least two games on Orlando or Brooklyn during the eight seeding contests, then win two consecutive games in a play-in tournament.

According to Wojnarowski, the Wizards “fully support” Bertans’ decision, which is viewed as a preventative measure. The veteran sharpshooter is still expected to participate in pre-Orlando training with the team, Woj adds.

Bertans, 27, averaged a career-best 15.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 1.7 APG in 54 games (29.3 MPG) during his first season as a Wizard, making an impressive 42.4% of 8.7 three-point attempts per game. The Wizards, who turned down offers for Bertans at the trade deadline in February, view re-signing him as a top offseason priority, says Wojnarowski.

As for the short term, the Wizards will be eligible to sign a substitute player to replace Bertans in Orlando, without needing to open up a roster spot for that replacement. Once the franchise signs a substitute, Bertans would become ineligible to return this season.

Bertans will also forfeit 1/92.6th of his salary for each game he misses this summer — based on his $7MM salary for 2019/20, that would normally work out to about $605K for eight games. However, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets that the actual figure will likely be close to $520K, since it will take into account previous reductions.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

John Wall Talks Restart, Cousins, Olympics, More

June 17th, 2020 at 4:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Wizards guard John Wall believes Kyrie Irving has raised some reasonable concerns as NBA players weigh the league’s restart plan this summer. Appearing on The Tuff Juice Podcast with Caron Butler, Wall suggested that he’d have reservations about playing in Orlando even if he were healthy enough to do so.

“For me, if I was playing, I wouldn’t want to go to it, to be honest,” Wall said, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “I just don’t feel like it’s safe. I just don’t feel like it is. I understand why they want to do it and what they’re trying to get to, but I wouldn’t want to.”

The Wizards are currently 5.5 games back of a playoff spot and would only force a play-in tournament if they can pull to within four games of either the Magic or the Nets. Even then, Washington would have to win two consecutive games in a play-in tournament in order to claim the No. 8 seed, which Wall seemed to acknowledge will be an uphill battle.

“If I was healthy enough to play, I wouldn’t want to go play,” he said, according to Hughes. “What am I going, just to play eight games? I’m not going for just eight games and then coming back home.”

While it may be somewhat cynical to point out, it’s worth noting that players like Irving and Wall might be more comfortable taking a stand on the issue when injuries will rule them out anyway. If they were fully healthy, it’s possible they’d feel extra pressure not to let down teammates by sitting out.

Here’s more from Wall:

In an Instagram Live interview with Marc Spears of The Undefeated on Wednesday, Wall said he’s still encouraging the Wizards to sign his good friend and former Kentucky teammate DeMarcus Cousins. “Oh man, you know I’m trying to push for that,” Wall said (hat tip to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington). “I’ve been on that for like five years. I want to sign him right now.”
Wall said that he and GM Tommy Sheppard have discussed the possibility of signing Cousins “here and there,” admitting that it might make sense for the big man to wait until next year to return — like Wall is doing. Cousins is recovering from a torn ACL.
During that same interview with Spears, Wall said that he’d like to play for Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics next summer, and has conveyed his interest to USA Basketball (Twitter link via Hughes). The Wizards’ point guard wasn’t one of 44 preliminary Team USA finalists announced in February, but could become a more viable candidate now that the event has been pushed back a year.
Wall also discussed the Black Lives Matter movement and other social-justice issues in an interesting conversation with Fred Katz of The Athletic.

Eastern Notes: Beal, Heat, Raptors, Dolan

June 14th, 2020 at 5:00pm CST by JD Shaw

Wizards star Bradley Beal is in the midst of a career-best season with the team, one that he’s confident can be sustained when the NBA returns in Orlando later this summer, Fred Katz of The Athletic writes.

Beal, who turns 27 later this month, averaged 30.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game this season. He shot 46% from the floor and 35% from downtown in 57 games, leading a depleted Wizards team throughout the campaign.

“I feel like something else clicked for me,” Beal said of this season, as relayed by Katz. “I honestly changed my way of thinking in the game. Playing the game, I was honestly just more aggressive. I just had the mindset that I’m the best player on the floor, and I’m gonna go showcase that.”

Washington dealt with various injuries this season and played without All-Star point guard John Wall, with Beal emerging as a much-needed leader throughout the year. The team is currently 5.5 games behind the No. 8 seed Magic and six games behind the No. 7 seed Nets for a potential playoff spot.

Here are some other notes from the Eastern Conference tonight:

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra could be facing a difficult roster decision as the team prepares for the league’s restart in Orlando, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes in his latest mailbag. Barring an unforeseen change, Miami must choose 13 active players from its notably deep roster, a decision that could leave veterans such as Udonis Haslem inactive entering the postseason.
The championship feeling is still lingering for the Raptors, who won their first NBA title one year ago, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes. The team still has several key players from its title run, including Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Toronto hopes to use that championship experience to their advantage during the resumed season this summer.
Knicks owner James Dolan‘s image has yet to change under brand consultant Steve Stoute, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Dolan was most recently criticized for a delayed statement on racial injustice problems in America, with the Knicks being the last team in the league to release a statement on the topic.

Restart Notes: Health Risks, LeBron, COVID-19, Bass

June 14th, 2020 at 12:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Significant risks await the NBA as it prepares to bring roughly 1,500 people into a bubble environment in Orlando, writes Zach Lowe of ESPN. He talks to several health experts who assess the possibility of keeping players and staff members safe from the coronavirus long enough to finish the season.

“They are going to see things on the ground they did not expect,” said Steven Pergam, an infectious disease specialist and an associate professor at the University of Washington. “The main potential weak point is how (Walt Disney World) employees interact with (NBA) staff,” adds Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. “But you can manage it in ways that do not create a whole lot of risk.”

The health professionals agree that frequent testing will be important to stave off a potential widespread outbreak. They also state that even if a player contracts COVID-19, there’s no guarantee it will be passed on through games or practices.

“The person has to be at just the right point in the infection where they are very contagious and the viral load is very high,” explains Abraar Karan, a physician at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Given the health risks, Lowe questions the decision to bring the Suns and Wizards into the bubble environment. Both teams face long odds to even reach a play-in game, and the additional personnel increases the chances of someone contracting the virus. Lowe claims the decision to include the two teams was financial, creating more games, which brings in more revenue.

There’s more surrounding the NBA’s restart:

Many of the league’s top stars participated in a conference call Friday where objections were raised to the plan to resume the season. However, LeBron James was notably absent, and Sam Amick of The Athletic explains it’s because James believes he can play basketball and advocate for social change at the same time. “Because of everything that’s going on, people are finally starting to listen to us,” James told Jonathan Martin of The New York Times this week. “We feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door. How long is up to us. We don’t know. But we feel like we’re getting some ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has a lot to resolve as he balances strong player sentiment for resuming the season and ending it, states Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Adding to the concern over racial issues is an increase in the coronavirus in Florida, which reported a state-record 2,500 new cases Saturday.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass told Marc Stein of The New York Times that the league will address the objections raised by players (Twitter link). “We understand the players’ concerns and are working with the Players Association on finding the right balance to address them,” Bass said.