- The current Wizards lineup is depleted beyond All-Star Bradley Beal, as Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington details. Second-leading scorer Davis Bertans, third-leading scorer Rui Hachimura and fourth-leading scorer Thomas Bryant are all unavailable with ailments. Fifth-leading scorer Isaiah Thomas awaits discipline after an altercation with two fans in Philadelphia.
Carmelo Anthony doesn’t believe a left knee contusion he suffered Friday night will be a long-term concern, writes Jamie Goldberg of The Oregonian. Anthony, who was held out of Saturday’s game, asked to be removed from Friday’s contest against Orlando in the second quarter after banging knees with another player. He remained in the locker room to get treatment on the injury.
“I didn’t want to take the chance of going out there,” the Trail Blazers‘ forward explained afterward. “We had it rolling. The guys had it rolling. We set the tone early in the game.”
Anthony, 35, has been productive since returning to the NBA last month after a year away from the game. He has averaged 16.0 points and 6.2 rebounds through 15 games and has given Portland another reliable scorer to go along with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
There’s more injury news from around the league:
- The Wizards will be without Moritz Wagner for at least a week because of an ankle injury, relays Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). Coach Scott Brooks provided an update last night, telling reporters that Wagner can’t do anything basketball-related right now.
- Michael Carter-Williams has been diagnosed with an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder, the Magic announced on Twitter. He has been ruled out of tomorrow’s game, and his return date will depend on how the injury responds to treatment. The veteran guard had his arm in a sling after being hit with a hard pick Friday night (Twitter link from Josh Robbins of The Athletic).
- Gordon Hayward will miss his third straight game today with soreness in his left foot, according to a tweet from the Celtics. An MRI taken this week revealed no structural damage. Hayward was sidelined for about a month with a fractured bone in his left hand and has been limited to 11 games this season.
- The Heat have already ruled Justise Winslow out for tomorrow’s game, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Winslow hasn’t played since December 4 because of a lower back strain.
Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas could be fined and suspended after going into the stands during Saturday night’s game in Philadelphia, writes Fred Katz of The Athletic. However, Thomas believes his actions were justified and said the league should support him.
The incident happened during a timeout with 2:53 left to play, shortly after Thomas made a free throw after missing the first one. Had he missed two in a row, all fans would have received a free Wendy’s Frosty. Thomas said one of the fans responded with an obscene gesture and repeated a profane phrase.
“In no way, shape or form that should be allowed,” he said after the game. “I’ve been in the league for a while. The fans (are) gonna say whatever they want. Don’t ever call me out of my name, because I would never do that to anybody else. I think that crossed the line. I got kids. I got a family. That’s not OK at all, so I just went to go tell him that (in) no disrespectful way, as calm as I am right now.”
One fan reportedly apologized when Thomas confronted him and said, “I just wanted a Frosty.” He and another fan were ordered to leave the arena, and Thomas was ejected from the game. He said both fans seemed “clearly drunk,” and a security guard added that they had been targeting Thomas all night.
There has been no word from the NBA on what Thomas’ punishment might be, but Katz points out that the league has been very sensitive about players going into the stands for any reason since “Malice in the Palace” in Detroit in 2004. Thomas said he remained controlled as he approached the fans, and several of his teammates supported his version of events.
Katz notes that the NBA has experienced a recent string of uncomfortable fan interactions. A Warriors fan and a former minority owner pushed Kyle Lowry during the NBA Finals, and Russell Westbrook confronted a fan in Utah last season who allegedly made a racially charged comment.
“The league knows I did nothing wrong. I didn’t disrespect anybody,” Thomas said. “As a man, I went and looked him in the eye and told him that was not OK. I didn’t scare nobody. I didn’t even use a curse word. So when the league investigates, I’m going to tell them the exact same thing, and hopefully, they should understand it.”
General manager Tommy Sheppard said this week that the Wizards plan to re-sign Davis Bertans, but Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington believes they may rethink their position before the trade deadline. Bertans has emerged as one of the league’s top 3-point shooters, hitting a career-best 44.7% through the season’s first 27 games. But his eventual price tag could be a concern to a franchise that has already made expensive long-term commitments to Bradley Beal and John Wall.
A league executive predicts Bertans will command a deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $51MM over three seasons. Hughes states that the Wizards can easily afford to give Bertans around $15MM per season, especially with Ian Mahinmi‘s $15.5MM salary coming off the books after this season. However, if the price gets closer to $20MM annually, Washington might have to reconsider to avoid a repeat of the salary cap crunch it escaped at last year’s deadline.
Hughes hears that the Sixers, Hawks and Lakers would be the most interested teams if the Wizards opt to shop Bertans. Washington will want at least a first-round pick in return, but any contender would be offering a choice very late in the draft. Unless someone comes through with a sweeter offer, Washington may opt to keep Bertans and take its chances in free agency.
There’s more from D.C.:
- Ish Smith is excelling off the bench and making a strong case for a full-time starting job, observes Mike DePrisco of NBC Sports Washington. Last night in Toronto, Smith became the first reserve in franchise history with a perfect shooting night on at least nine shot attempts since the stat started being kept in 1971.
- Gary Payton II, who is reportedly close to re-signing with the Wizards, got a strong endorsement from his coach this week at the G League Showcase, relays Sam Gordon of The Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s dependent on fit and timing. He has the skills. He has the talent. He has the mentality,” said Coby Karl of the South Bay Lakers. “He’s an elite athlete at the NBA level. He can do so many different things on the court.”
- Chris Chiozza, who was released earlier this week, has joined Washington’s G League affiliate in Capital City after clearing waivers, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.
Gary Payton II is nearing a contract with the Wizards, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The G League guard was held out of today’s Showcase game in Las Vegas.
Payton is averaging 21.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 3.2 steals in 16 games for the South Bay Lakers. He has played 113 G League games in his career, but only 32 in the NBA, including three with the Wizards last season. He also had short stays with the Bucks and Lakers.
Washington doesn’t expect to make another move before adding Payton to the roster, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Wizards have applied to the league for a hardship provision that they expect to be granted. It will allow them to carry a 16th player as long as their injury woes continue.
Jordan McRae‘s salary for this season became fully guaranteed by the Wizards on Friday, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
Washington’s intentions to retain McRae were reported earlier this month. McRae has been sidelined in recent weeks due to a finger injury.
McRae’s $1.6MM contract was already partially guaranteed at $600K prior to Friday’s deadline. He is averaging 8.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG and 2.8 APG in 18.1 MPG in 13 games this season while backing up the team’s star, Bradley Beal.
The 28-year-old shooting guard underwent surgery on his right ring finger in early December to remove a pin from a previous surgery. The procedure was a precautionary measure to prevent infection.
McRae suffered a fracture to that finger during the season opener against Dallas on October 23. He returned to action on November 6. The pin became dislodged on a dunk attempt against Charlotte on November 22.
McRae had his first workout since the surgery in Toronto on Friday, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post tweets. The Wizards are in town to play the Raptors.
Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard recently declared that the team fully intends to keep sharpshooter Davis Bertans beyond this season, and it appears that interest is reciprocated by the Latvian Laser and his camp. Bertans tells Fred Katz of The Athletic that he’s happy with the Wizards and that his family has been enjoying D.C.
“(D.C.) is just more something closer to home, like a little international, European style,” Bertans said. “There’s some history that not a lot of cities in the States have. And then when you’re downtown, everything is walking distance. That’s about it. My family loves it here. So, that’s a big part. … Happy wife, happy life.”
Bertans has, of course, been enjoying a career year on the court, emerging as one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters in terms of both accuracy (46.2%) and volume (4.0 made threes per game). According to Quinton Mayo of NBC Sports Washington, longtime agent Arturs Kalnitis said his client has appreciated the opportunity to “showcase his abilities” and has had an “all-around great experience” in Washington. Still, Kalnitis noted that Bertans figures to draw plenty of interest in free agency next July.
“This will be an interesting summer for Davis as many teams are high on him,” Kalnitis said. “Every team needs players like him to win a championship.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Former first-round pick Anzejs Pasecniks, who signed a two-way contract with the Wizards this week, made his NBA debut on Wednesday, marking the first time two teammates from Latvia played together in the same game. Both Pasecniks and Bertans spoke about how much they valued that opportunity, as Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes. “You can’t even imagine what kind of a small possibility that is,” Bertans said. “It’s an amazing feeling. It just shows that basketball in Latvia is growing very rapidly.”
- In addition to being the first team to reach out to Jabari Parker in free agency, the Hawks also promised the most regular playing time, which was a major factor in the forward’s decision, as he tells Michael Pina of SB Nation. “Forget the contract and whatever. I’ve made a lot of money other places,” Parker said. “So it’s not just for the money. It’s just so I can enjoy the game. As long as I’m playing, that’s all I care about. It’s not about anything else.” Parker is averaging 27.4 minutes per game in Atlanta this season, his highest mark since 2016/17.
- As a result of the offseason trade that sent Josh Richardson to Philadelphia, he and Justise Winslow are no longer teammates after spending the first four years of their respective NBA careers with the Heat. Still, Winslow claims the trade actually brought him and Richardson even closer. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel has the story and the quotes.
- The Wizards have recalled rookie point guard Justin Robinson from the Capital City Go-Go in time for tonight’s Bulls game, the team tweets. He did not log hardwood time. Robinson has played in six games for Washington this season.
Wizards head coach Scott Brooks has not completely ruled out the possibility of injured former All-Star point guard John Wall returning during the 2019/20 NBA season, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
“It’s not like we’re shutting him down and focusing on the 2020/2021 season,” Brooks said, per Buckner. Brooks noted (Twitter link) that Wall has been practicing one-on-one against Wizards assistant coaches.
“It’s going to happen organically,” Brooks said when discussing Wall’s actual return timeline. “He’s getting after every workout.”
Wall tore his Achilles at his home in January while recovering from a heel injury. He has not played an NBA game since December 26, 2018. Injuries have been a persistent problem for the five-time All-Star, who was drafted No. 1 in 2010.
Wall suited up for just 41 games during the 2017/18 season due to a nagging knee issue that required surgery. He was only available for 32 games the next year, 2018/19, before incurring the heel and Achilles injuries. He has missed 26 games and counting in 2019/20 with the same injury. The 29-year-old point guard is in the first season of a four-year, $171.1MM contract extension.
Isaiah Thomas, on a one-year, $2.3MM veteran’s minimum salary, is currently revitalizing his career as the Wizards’ starting point guard in Wall’s stead. Before tonight’s 110-109 loss to the Bulls (in which he scored 16 points), Thomas was averaging 13.2 PPG and 5.1 APG in just 24.9 MPG, while shooting 43.3% from deep and 46.2% from the field.
Here are Tuesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Pacers have assigned Victor Oladipo to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants as the former All-Star continues his rehabs, the team announced on Twitter. Indiana also recalled Edmond Sumner, Alize Johnson, and JaKarr Sampson.
- The Knicks have assigned Ignas Brazdeikis to the Westchester Knicks, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Brazdeikis was available for the G League contest tonight.
- The Wizards assigned Justin Robinson to the Capital City Go-Go, per the team’s Twitter feed. The guard has appeared in six games for Washington this season.
- The Rockets have assigned Isaiah Hartenstein to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets. The center has appeared in nine games for Houston this year.
- The Clippers have assigned Mfiondu Kabengele and guard Terance Mann to the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, per the team.
- Jalen McDaniels is making another trip to the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets announced on their website. The second-round pick has appeared in 13 games in the G League this season.