Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Thomas Bryant, Bradley Beal Back For Wizards

January 12th, 2020 at 1:13pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Center Thomas Bryant will be returning to game action for the Wizards this afternoon against the Jazz, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz (Twitter link).

Bryant, who had started all of his previous games for Washington this season, will be coming off the bench in his first NBA game since December 1, according to Hoops Rumors’ Chris Crouse (Twitter link). Crouse notes that Wizards All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal, who has missed his team’s last five games, will return as well.

Before the 22-year-old Bryant suffered a right foot stress reaction in December, he had been enjoying his best season as a pro. The No. 42 pick in 2017, Bryant logged just 15 games for the Lakers in the 2017/18 season. Los Angeles waived Bryant in 2018.

In 2018/19, the Wizards took a flyer on Bryant, and he blossomed in his sophomore season following the injury flameout of nominal starting center Dwight Howard, who missed all but nine games in DC. Bryant averaged 10.5 PPG and 6.3 RPG for the Wizards during his age-21 season, convincing the Wizards to re-sign him this past summer to a three-year, $25MM contract.

Bryant is averaging career highs of 13.9 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and 2.7 APG in 28.4 MPG across Washington’s newly sped-up offense. The Wizards sport the third-fastest offense in the NBA.

Beal, who signed a two-year, $72MM extension with the Wizards this fall that will pay him through the 2022/23 season, had been enjoying a career year for Washington, too. He is averaging career highs of 27.8 PPG, 6.6 APG, and shooting 83.1% from the free-throw line. Beal is also averaging 4.8 RPG.

Celtics Notes: Memphis Pick, Brown, Poirier, Walker

January 12th, 2020 at 12:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Grizzlies‘ first-rounder that the Celtics own is a volatile asset heading into this year’s trade deadline, Sean Deveney writes for Forbes. The pick is top-six protected and becomes unprotected in 2021 if it doesn’t convey this year. Memphis is currently eighth in the West, but only three-and-a-half games ahead of the 14th-place Pelicans.

“(The Celtics) have been active in terms of seeing what is out there,” a general manager told Deveney. “I don’t think they want to sit on their hands. I am not sure how much they can realistically get done, though, because the Memphis pick is such a wild card. They can’t do anything significant unless they move that pick.”

Deveney identifies the Wizards‘ Davis Bertans and the Timberwolves‘ Robert Covington as possible trade targets. He states that Bertans is probably available for the Memphis pick, along with Enes Kanter and Semi Ojeleye. However, Bertans is entering free agency and Boston probably can’t afford to re-sign him with Jayson Tatum due for an extension. Covington is under contract for two more seasons and Deveney suggests the Celtics could get him for Kanter, Daniel Theis and the Bucks‘ 2020 first-rounder, allowing them to keep the Grizzlies’ pick.

There’s more out of Boston:

Jaylen Brown doesn’t believe Brandon Ingram was referring to him when he talked about being surprised that certain players received rookie scale extensions, relays Tom Westerholm of MassLive. “When we talked about the extension, of course, I’m human,” Ingram said in a recent interview with ESPN’s Andrew Lopez. “When I look at other guys, I’m like, ‘This (expletive) got an extension? Oh my god. Man, we can lace up right now and play one-on-one to 15 and this (expletive) won’t score.’ That’s how I looked at it as a competitor.” Asked about the comments after last night’s game against the Pelicans, Brown, who received a four-year, $115MM extension, responded, “I don’t feel any type of way, because I don’t feel like they apply to me.”
Vincent Poirier could soon provide some depth at center, coach Brad Stevens tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Poirier is nearing a return after being sidelined since December 17 with a broken finger.
The Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak last night, but the recent downturn wasn’t alarming for Kemba Walker, who brings an outsider’s perspective after his years with the Hornets, writes John Karalis of MassLive. “I’ve lost so many more than three games in a row throughout the course of my career,” Walker said. “Plenty of times, so this is nothing to me personally. It’s just about getting back on track at this point.”

Wizards Waive C.J. Miles, Promote Anzejs Pasecniks

January 12th, 2020 at 11:55am CST by Arthur Hill

11:54am: The move is official, the Wizards announced in a press release.

“We appreciate CJ’s contributions to our team this season and wish him and his family the best as he continues his career,” general manager Tommy Sheppard said. “He is a consummate professional who provided a great example for our younger players despite having his season cut short by an unfortunate injury.”

The team also confirmed that Pasecniks has been signed to a multi-year contract and Williams received a two-way deal.

8:12am: The Wizards will waive injured swingman C.J. Miles, tweets Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. His roster spot will be used to convert Anzejs Pasecniks‘ two-way contract to a standard deal, and Johnathan Williams will be re-signed to fill the two-way slot.

Miles, who is making $8.73MM in the final year of his contract, was acquired from the Grizzlies in a trade last summer. He played just 10 games for Washington before suffering a wrist injury in November that will sideline him for the rest of the season.

The 32-year-old has been a positive presence in the locker room, Buckner adds, but the Wizards have been dealing with a string of injuries and need more healthy players (Twitter link).

The team will keep the $4.4MM Disabled Player Exception it received in the wake of Miles’ injury, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. The DPE is not affected by the decision to part with Miles.

Pasecniks, a rookie center, has played 13 games for the Wizards, averaging 8.2 points and 6.2 rebounds in about 22 minutes per night. Washington waived him before training camp, then signed him to the two-way deal in December. Buckner reported last week that the team hoped to promote him to the 15-man roster.

Williams recently had a brief stint with the Wizards as a hardship player, and impressed team officials enough that they wanted to give him another chance. He averaged 5.5 PPG and 6.3 RPG in six games, starting five of them, but was waived last week when the hardship exception expired. He’ll rejoin the roster in advance of the January 15 deadline for two-way signings.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/11/20

January 11th, 2020 at 9:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

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

The Kings assigned Wenyen Gabriel, Justin James and Caleb Swanigan to their affiliate in Stockton, tweets Jason Jones of The Athletic. Swanigan was recalled later in the day, the team announced (Twitter link).
The Wizards assigned Admiral Schofield to Capital City so he could play in tonight’s game against Sioux Falls, the team announced on Twitter.
The Pacers sent Goga Bitadze to Fort Wayne for the second time this season, tweets Scott Agness of The Athletic.
The Cavaliers recalled Tyler Cook from Canton, according to a press release from the team. Cook signed a 10-day contract on Thursday.
The Thunder recalled Deonte Burton and Justin Patton from Oklahoma City Blue, the team announced in an email.

Wizards Notes: Mathews, Wall, Payton, Bertans

January 10th, 2020 at 7:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Wizards rookie wing Garrison Mathews will miss multiple weeks with a right ankle sprain, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Mathews, who is on a two-way contract, rolled his ankle when he stepped on Celtics forward Jayson Tatum‘s shoe. Mathews is averaging 6.2 PPG while shooting 42.9 % from long range.

We have more on the Wizards:

Point guard John Wall is participating in three-on-three scrimmages against members of the player development staff, Hughes relays in a separate story. It’s another step in Wall’s recovery from a ruptured left Achilles tendon. He had recently progressed from running and dunking to one-on-one contact drills with coaches, Hughes adds. However, there’s no expectation Wall will play this season. “I don’t know if he’s going to play this year. I don’t know if he’s not going to play,” head coach Scott Brooks said.
Guard Gary Payton II has earned a spot in the rotation, Jackson Filyo of the team’s website notes. Payton was signed under the league’s hardship exception last month due to a wave of injuries. “I’ve been hungry ever since I got here,” Payton said. “In and out of the G League, trying to find somewhere to stick. I think these guys here appreciate what I do and value what I do, so I go to bat for them every day.” In his first nine games with Washington, Payton is averaging 5.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.0 APG and 2.3 SPG in 23.6 MPG.
Davis Bertans returned to action on Friday with a minutes restriction, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post tweets. The stretch four was out for nine games with a quad injury. Bertans, who has an expiring $7MM contract, is averaging 15.4 PPG while making 43.2% of his 3-point attempts.

Wizards Notes: Culture, Bryant, Smith, Mathews

January 8th, 2020 at 5:15pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The culture in Washington has changed dramatically from last season and Ish Smith believes the team the Wizards could be on a similar path to the one the Nets are on, as he told Hoops Rumors and other media in attendance after the team’s recent win over the Celtics.

“Brooklyn, I thought, did a great job of it last year. They’ve been doing a great job over the last two years – they haven’t had any true superstars, but now they do,” Smith said. “They’ve just been playing hard and guys have emerged out of nowhere.

“You look at Joe Harris; Joe Harris wasn’t a household name, now he is one. Spencer Dinwiddie, I can go down the line, all of those guys who played really, really well and held down the fort – and they made it to the playoffs last year. Obviously, D’Angelo [Russell] was a household name and everybody knew who he was, but I thought Brooklyn had laid that [foundation] down. We’re just trying to play hard, try to play smarter. We’re embodying who Coach [Scott] Brooks is. Coach Brooks is a fighter and that’s who he was his whole career. I think we’re doing a great job of doing that these last few games.”

The Wizards have had a stockpile of injuries and players without much brand recognition have stepped up. Here’s more on the unique squad out of Washington:

The front office would like to promote Anzejs Pasecniks, who is on a two-way deal, to the 15-man roster, though good luck guessing which player would be waived if that happens. Gary Payton II‘s contract for the season became fully guaranteed on Tuesday, which makes the Wizards roster 15-for-15 in guaranteed contracts.
Thomas Bryant could make his return to the court this weekend. The Wizards play the Hawks on Friday and the Jazz on Sunday.
Wizards guard Jordan McRae spoke about how Smith, has impacted the club “Ish [Smith] is doing what Ish does. We’ve been going through droughts where we can’t score. Him being the point guard, him being the leader that he is, he’s taken it upon himself,” McRae said. We recently detailed how Smith is channeling his inner Steve Nash for the Wizards.
Brook said there is no update on Garrison Mathews, who is dealing with an ankle sprain, Fred Katz of The Athletic relays on Twitter.

Wizards Likely Lottery-Bound, But Finding Keepers

January 8th, 2020 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards‘ 2019/20 season will almost certainly end with a spot in the lottery, but it won’t be a lost year in D.C., according to David Aldridge of The Athletic, who says the organization is identifying some promising building blocks for the future.

Ish Smith Channels His Inner Steve Nash For The Wizards

January 7th, 2020 at 10:47pm CST by ChrisCrouse

MVP chants broke out during the Wizards‘ upset victory over the Celtics, drowning out the thousands of Boston fans that, at times, made the Capital One Arena feel like the TD Garden. Ish Smith, who had 59 points off the bench over his past two games, had again taken control of the contest.

“If it were a two-game season, I would have to agree with the crowd: MVP,” coach Scott Brooks said to the media in attendance, including Hoops Rumors. “And he’s bringing back the mid-range. He plays. Man, that guy, he’s hard to stay in front of. He changes direction, his pace, speed, it’s hard—it’s hard to stay in front of him.”

Smith, who signed a two-year, $12MM contract with the Wizards this past offseason, attributes many parts of his game to NBA legend Steve Nash.

“You know what’s funny, I was watching some tape of [Nash] last night,” the point guard said after the team’s win over the Celtics. “I’m always trying to get better. The game of basketball, I love to play the game and Steve did such a great job, as you know, and we know watching him. Probing, keeping his dribble, he was unbelievable in the mid-range game. I sometimes thought he didn’t shoot enough. I used to watch tons of him.

“The late, great Skip Prosser, my coach, he passed away. He used to sit me down my freshman year and show me tons of Tony Parker and Steve Nash clips. When you watch me play, you see a lot of that. Coaches used to tell me [to keep my dribble]. I’m glad I’m continuing that on and I’m still trying to learn from him, just watching his tapes. I watched the playoffs when he played against Dallas and he had 39 and he just kept making shots and they went to the conference finals. I’m constantly learning and getting better.”

Smith’s has elevated his game at a time when his team needed him the most, as Washington has been decimated by injuries this season. No one expected John Wall to come back, but the list of players sidelined is getting ridiculous. C.J. Miles has been out since November. Thomas Bryant hasn’t played in over a month. Davis Bertans, Moritz Wagner, and Rui Hachimura all remain out with three very different injuries.

NBA Ironman Bradley Beal has missed the past three games and five out of the past six, including the Wizards’ pair of upset victories over the Nuggets and Celtics. Garrison Mathews, who was turning into a key contributor for the team, went down during the first half of the Boston game. The team had to utilize a pair of hardship exceptions in recent weeks on Gary Payton II and Johnathan Williams, starting both in a handful of contests before being forced to trim down the roster again. Charles Barkley could play ‘Who he play for’ Wizards edition and go 0-for-6.

Despite the various ailments, Brooks has opted to stack the bench unit, led by Smith, and the strategy has paid dividends. The Wizards scored 92 points off the bench against the Nuggets, causing coach Mike Malone to give a brash rant, telling reporters that he was “embarrassed” for his squad.

“The reality is this is the NBA, man, I don’t care who plays,” Malone said. “They’re professional players, all their players are playing for something. They don’t get an opportunity to play a lot now they have an opportunity. They are grabbing it. So, you know, kudos to them. That’s what you want to see.”

After the Wizards’ win on Saturday, the locker room had a champagne-like celebration (it was all water). After the win over the Celtics, it was all praise to Smith, who has led this ever-changing group, mentoring the younger players and playing the role of both scorer and facilitator on the floor.

“There’s certain stuff he does where I’m like, ‘I can’t do that.’ Just the pace he plays at and how calm he stays, how collected he is and his composure,” Troy Brown Jr. said of Smith. “He’s definitely a great player and somebody definitely to look up to that’s been in the league for a long time.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wizards Hope To Promote Anzejs Pasecniks Soon

January 7th, 2020 at 3:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards made a pair of roster moves over the weekend, waiving Justin Robinson and Johnathan Williams, but they may not be done. According to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post, the Wizards would like to promote Anzejs Pasecniks to the 15-man roster, then sign a new two-way player in his place.

Pasecniks, a former first-round pick, began the season as a G League player with the Capital City Go-Go before signing a two-way deal with the Wizards in December. Forced into regular action due to Washington’s frontcourt injury issues, the Latvian center has held his own, with 7.7 PPG and 6.3 RPG in 11 games (21.0 MPG).

Currently, Washington has a full roster, with 15 players on standard contracts and Pasecniks and Garrison Mathews on two-way deals. While there’s not necessarily any rush to promote Pasecniks to the 15-man squad, the deadline to sign players to two-way contracts is January 15. So if the team waits until after that date, it won’t be able to sign a new two-way player to replace the big man. As such, the Wizards are likely to take action within the next eight days.

Assuming Gary Payton II isn’t released today, all 15 players on the Wizards’ standard roster will have guaranteed contracts, but that doesn’t mean one can’t be waived to make room for Pasecniks. Ian Mahinmi, C.J. Miles, Isaiah Thomas, Jordan McRae, Isaac Bonga, and Payton are among the Wizards who have no guaranteed money owed to them beyond this season and could be candidates to be traded or cut.

The Wizards were previously permitted to carry two extra players on their roster via the hardship provision, but with Davis Bertans and Thomas Bryant on the verge of returning, the club is no longer believed to qualify for an extra roster spot.

If Washington does open up a two-way slot by promoting Pasecniks, Williams is a prime candidate to return on a two-way contract of his own after being waived on Sunday, according to Buckner.

Why Wizards Kept Payton Over Robinson

January 6th, 2020 at 4:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Ben Standig and Fred Katz of The Athletic examine why the Wizards elected to keep Gary Payton II, a 27-year-old on a one-year contract, over Justin Robinson, a 22-year-old who had been on a team-friendly three-year deal. Washington released Robinson on Sunday before his 2019/20 salary could become guaranteed. The Athletic duo also pointed out that the Wizards don’t have the G League rights for Robinson or Johnathan Williams, who was cut on Sunday too.