Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Sign John Butler Jr., Taylor Funk To Exhibit 10 Deals

October 13th, 2024 at 10:53am CST by Arthur Hill

The Wizards have added center John Butler Jr. and forward Taylor Funk on Exhibit 10 contracts, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Washington still has a two-way slot open, but both players appear likely to wind up with the team’s Capital City Go-Go affiliate in the G League, where they will be eligible for bonuses worth up to $77.5K if they remain there for 60 days.

Butler, 21, started last season on a two-way contract with the Wizards, but was waived in early December. He joined Capital City, where he averaged 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 33 regular season games. Butler has previous NBA experience with Portland, appearing in 19 games during the 2022/23 season, and he was a member of the USA’s 3×3 U23 Men’s National Team that competed in Mongolia this summer.

Funk, 26, also played for the Go-Go last season after being acquired in a December trade with the Maine Celtics. He signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Boston last September, but was waived before the start of training camp. Funk averaged 9.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 34 regular season games with Capital City.

Butler and Funk will fill the openings created Saturday when Kira Lewis and Leaky Black were waived, and their signings will bring the Wizards back to the offseason roster limit of 21 players.

Wizards Waive Kira Lewis, Leaky Black

October 12th, 2024 at 8:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Wizards opened two spots on their training camp roster by waiving point guard Kira Lewis and small forward Leaky Black, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

Lewis, 23, was selected by the Pelicans with the 13th pick in the 2020 draft, but he was never able to earn a rotation spot during his three-plus years in New Orleans. That was partly due to injuries, including a torn ACL during the 2021/22 season. Lewis was traded three times last season, going to the Pacers, Raptors and Jazz, and he became a free agent in late June when Utah declined to submit a qualifying offer.

Black, 25, signed a two-way contract with Charlotte last summer after going undrafted out of USC. He appeared in 26 games for the Hornets, but spent much of the season with the Greensboro Swarm in the G League. Black’s two-way deal covered two seasons, but Charlotte waived him at the beginning of August.

Lewis and Black were both in camp on Exhibit 10 contracts, so they’ll have the opportunity to earn bonuses worth $77.5K if they spend at least 60 days with Washington’s G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go.

The moves leave the Wizards with 19 players on their roster, two short of the offseason limit.

Kyshawn George Impressive In First Start

October 12th, 2024 at 5:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

Rookie guard Kyshawn George made his first preseason start Friday and responded with nine points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, per Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. At 6’8″, George has the size to play several positions, but Shankar notes that he looked comfortable running the Wizards‘ offense. “I just try to read the defense and trust my teammates to be at the right spot at the right moment,” George said. “And it’s just on me to make the right read and make the play.”

Southeast Notes: Daniels, Hawks, Martin, Hornets, Sarr

October 12th, 2024 at 1:58pm CST by Rory Maher

In his Hawks debut on Tuesday vs. Indiana, third-year guard Dyson Daniels looked like he could form a solid partnership next to Trae Young, writes Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Hawks acquired Daniels from New Orleans this offseason in the Dejounte Murray trade.

Known for his strong defense, the 21-year-old Australian recorded 14 points (on 5-of-8 shooting) and three assists in 22 minutes. Daniels is a former lottery pick, having been selected No. 8 overall in the 2022 draft.

“Dyson did a lot of good things,” head coach Quin Snyder said. “I thought defensively, we’ve talked about his presence on the court defensively. But, I thought he made the game simple. He made the right pass when someone was open, he passed to them. He moved without the ball when he needed, and he was spaced. It’s such an elusive thing to talk about spacing all the time, but if you’re not spaced, it’s hard to play together. Dyson does all those things. He does them intuitively, and he’s committed to them, and as a result, he’s someone that makes his team better.”

Here’s more from the Southeast:

If the Hawks want to improve their 36-46 record from last season, a good place to start would be to perform better in clutch situations, particularly on the defensive end, Williams writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I think having clarity down the stretch, and the biggest thing is getting stops,” Snyder said Thursday. “It’s hard to score late in an NBA game. You have to make shots (and) sometimes those shots are more contested. The way to score is to get stops and to score in transition. One thing that will be important for us is there’s a mindset where you can continue to attack, and there’s also a mindset where not one player has to do that.”
Hornets wing Cody Martin has been sidelined by a variety of injuries over the past two seasons, having played just 35 games over that span. He’s currently dealing with a sprained right wrist and laceration on his thumb, but he’s confident he’ll be back soon, even if he doesn’t know exactly when it will be, per Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “Just a basketball play,” said Martin. “It’s unfortunate. I’m optimistic. I’m good. I’m just trying to figure it out for now and making sure that we are all on the same page going forward. But I’m in good spirits to be honest with you. I’m staying even-keeled.”
LaMelo Ball and Josh Green were held out of the Hornets‘ preseason game vs. Memphis on Thursday, but neither player is injured, according to Boone. “We’ve played a lot of basketball so far,” said head coach Charles Lee. “We did training camp on the road at Duke and so there’s going to be a couple of guys when you’re playing a three-in-five that we’re going to be mindful of their minutes.”
Josh Robbins of The Athletic spoke to a handful of NBA scouts from rival teams to get an idea of what talent evaluators think of No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr. All of the scouts believe the Wizards‘ rookie big man will need time to develop, and most are bullish on his defensive upside. “The biggest thing is his mobility and motor, his ability to run the floor and switch and contain on the perimeter as well as be someone who can protect the rim,” one scout said.

Knicks Notes: Robinson, Payne, Defense, Brunson

October 10th, 2024 at 8:50pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Oft-injured Knicks reserve center Mitchell Robinson is on track to return to the hardwood in January, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.

The seven-footer is still recuperating from a pair of ankle procedures he has undergone in the past year. He had a December ankle surgery, then incurred another foot/ankle ailment during the playoffs that required surgery in May. According to Charania, the Knicks plan to have Karl-Anthony Towns and Jericho Sims play the majority of the minutes at center while Robinson is unavailable.

Robinson, 26, suited up for just 31 contests last year, averaging 5.6 points per game on 57.5% from the field and 40.9% shooting from the foul line. He also registered averages of 8.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks per night.

There’s more out of New York:

New Knicks backup point guard Cameron Payne, whose Sixers were vanquished in a chippy first round series by New York last spring, is acclimating to his new environs, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. As Bondy notes, Payne and Jalen Brunson had a brief run-in in Game 5 of that series after Payne committed a hard foul on the Knicks star. “First thing I did was talk to JB when I got here,” Payne said, “and he’s like, ‘It’s all love.’ So it’s all love.”
The Knicks’ defensive ferocity was already well on display during the club’s Wednesday win over the Wizards, writes Ian Begley of SNY.tv. “I think we’re just learning each other some more,” new All-Defensive Team addition Mikal Bridges said. “Defensively, I think we can be really good. Just need time and being around each other more, and having practices and playing these preseason games is gonna help a lot.”
Brunson believes he should have earned a spot on the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s basketball team this summer, per Sam Schube of GQ. The 6’2″ All-Star broke his hand during New York’s Game 7 semifinal defeat to the Pacers and would have been unable to play as he recuperated, but he noted that he didn’t make the cut even before that happened. “The team was chosen before I broke my hand,” Brunson said. “The way I played last year, I thought I was deserving. I thought I could have fit in. I’ve played many roles throughout my career; I could play another. But obviously, it just wasn’t in the cards at that time.”

Wizards Waive Jaylen Nowell, Sign Erik Stevenson

October 10th, 2024 at 5:23pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Wizards are cycling through Exhibit 10 players, cutting Jaylen Nowell from the training camp roster to make room for Erik Stevenson, according to Spotrac’s Keith Smith (Twitter link).

Washington originally agreed to terms with Nowell in August alongside Kira Lewis and Leaky Black before officially adding them to their roster in September. All three were set up to compete for a spot on Washington’s roster, but with the Wizards already facing a roster crunch with 16 players on standard deals, it was an uphill battle for Nowell (or Lewis) to make it on a standard contract. Of those three signees, Black is the only one eligible for a two-way contract since he has just one year of NBA service. The Wizards have one two-way slot open.

Nowell now has the option to play for the team’s G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. If he spends at least 60 days with the club, he’ll earn a bonus worth $77.5K. Nowell is a five-year NBA veteran, appearing in 197 games (four starts) and averaging 8.9 points across appearances with the Timberwolves, Grizzlies and Pistons.

The 6’4″ Stevenson went undrafted in 2023 out of West Virginia. He was cycled onto the Spurs’ roster on an Exhibit 10 contract last offseason, appearing in 48 games with both the Austin Spurs and then Texas Legends in the G League. He averaged 10.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in his G League appearances last year.

Theoretically, Stevenson will be in competition for Washington’s open two-way slot. It seems more likely, given the timing of the signing, that he’ll end up being waived and spending the 2024/25 season in the G League to develop.

Southeast Notes: Poole, Heat, Hawks, Risacher, Carter, Lee

October 8th, 2024 at 2:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Jordan Poole was a little “quiet” and “standoffish” during his first year with the Wizards, according to Kyle Kuzma, who believes that was out of character for the 25-year-old guard and notes that he seems more comfortable entering his second season in D.C.

“I don’t think last year he necessarily was (Jordan Poole last season),” Kuzma said, per Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. “… We have the same agency, and I know for a fact from conversations that was not him. And I think that I see more of what Jordan Poole is now.”

As Shankar details, the Wizards’ plan to get the ball into Poole’s hands more and let him serve as a primary play-maker is one key reason for his increased comfort level. He had 16 points, six assists, and no turnovers in 22 minutes of action during Sunday’s preseason opener vs. Toronto.

“(Playing point guard has) allowed me to have more influence, more impact, get my hands on the offense,” Poole said, adding that his goal in his new role is to be “aggressive” and to “find ways to get my teammates involved.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

The preseason game between the Heat and Hawks originally scheduled to be played at Kaseya Center in Miami this Thursday has been postponed until Wednesday, October 16 due to Hurricane Milton, the Heat announced today (Twitter link).
This year’s No. 1 overall pick, Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher, isn’t coming into the league with nearly as much as hype or pressure as some past top picks, but as his pro career begins, he’s still eager to reward the club’s confidence in him, as Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution details.
The three-year, $58.65MM contract extension that Wendell Carter signed with the Magic features a third-year team option, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). That means the deal will only include about $37.65MM in fully guaranteed money, with a $21MM option for 2028/29.
Having gotten a head coaching opportunity after what he estimates was 10 interviews with teams over the years, Charles Lee is focused on building a culture of togetherness with the Hornets, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “I think that we try to talk about right now just our competitive habits and how we all affect each other,” Lee said. “Knowing that if one person isn’t holding up their end of the bargain or their end of the competitive bargain, then all of us are going to feel that.”

Wizards’ Malcolm Brogdon Undergoes Thumb Surgery

October 8th, 2024 at 12:17pm CST by Rory Maher

OCTOBER 8: Brogdon underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his thumb, the Wizards announced (via Twitter).

The team didn’t offer any specifics on his recovery timeline, but it seems like a safe bet that Brogdon will be sidelined for at least a month, as detailed below. When Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons had a similar surgery last fall, he missed approximately five weeks of action.

OCTOBER 7: Veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon, whom the Wizards acquired in an offseason trade with Portland, is expected to miss several weeks with a right hand injury, reports Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

Brogdon sustained the injury during Saturday’s practice in Montreal and was subsequently sent back to Washington, D.C. to undergo testing. The full severity of the injury has yet to be determined, but a source told Robbins that Brogdon is expected to be out at least a month.

The 36th pick of the 2016 draft out of Virginia, Brogdon has compiled an impressive NBA résumé, winning Rookie of the Year in 2017 with Milwaukee and Sixth Man of the Year in 2023 with Boston. However, the 31-year-old has also been hampered by injuries throughout his career.

Brogdon has appeared in more than 56 regular season games just once in the past five years and only played 39 times in 2023/24. He remains effective when he’s available, averaging 15.7 PPG, 5.5 APG, and 3.8 RPG on .440/.412/.819 shooting last season for Portland (28.7 MPG).

Brogdon, who is on an expiring $22.5MM contract, seems like a prime candidate, with the Wizards in the early stages of a rebuild. The hand injury complicates matters, but it’s fairly unusual for trades to occur this time of year anyways.

If Brogdon misses exactly one month, he would be sidelined for the Wizards’ remaining preseason contests and would likely miss at least a handful of regular season games. As Robbins writes, rookie guards Carlton Carrington and Kyshawn George are candidates for more playing time while Brogdon is sidelined.

NBA GMs High On Thunder’s Offseason Moves, Celtics’ Title Chances

October 8th, 2024 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder made the best roster moves during the 2024 offseason, according to the NBA’s general managers. Within his annual survey of the league’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 37% of his respondents picked Oklahoma City as having the best summer, with the Sixers coming in second place at 33%. The Knicks got 20% of the vote share, while no other club received more than a single vote.

It was one of many favorable outcomes in the survey for the Thunder, who were overwhelmingly selected as the team with the best young core — 60% of GMs selected OKC, compared to 20% for the second-place Magic.

New Thunder guard Alex Caruso was chosen by general managers as the most underrated offseason acquisition, receiving 23% of that vote share, while last year’s Most Valuable Player runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was picked as this year’s MVP favorite (40%), narrowly edging Mavericks star Luka Doncic (30%).

The Thunder also received a handful of votes from the league’s GMs as the team that will win the 2025 NBA Finals, but at 13%, they finished a distant second to the Celtics, who earned a whopping 83% of the vote. Besides those two clubs, only the Mavericks (3%) received a vote to become this season’s champions.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

New Sixers forward Paul George got 60% of the vote as the offseason acquisition who will have the biggest impact in 2024/25, followed by new Knicks Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns at 13% apiece. The Towns trade, meanwhile, was named the most surprising offseason move, eking out George leaving Los Angeles for Philadelphia (27% to 23%).
Unsurprisingly, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama was the overwhelming choice (77%) for which player the GMs would most want to start a franchise with. Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic each earned three votes in that category, while Doncic got one.
The league’s general managers are high on No. 3 overall pick Reed Sheppard — the Rockets‘ guard is their pick to win the Rookie of the Year award (50%) ahead of betting favorite Zach Edey of the Grizzlies (30%). Sheppard also comfortably received the largest vote share (43%) when the GMs were asked which rookie will be the best player in five years. Spurs guard Stephon Castle (17%) and Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (13%) were the runners-up in that category.
There was no consensus among the GMs on which 2024 draftee was the biggest steal. Wizards guard Carlton Carrington, Kings guard Devin Carter, Pacers wing Johnny Furphy, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon, and Thunder guard Nikola Topic each received three votes to lead the way.
Among newly hired head coaches, Mike Budenholzer of the Suns is the one GMs feel will have the biggest impact on his new club. Budenholzer received 40% of the vote, beating out Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons (20% apiece). Meanwhile, Spurs guard Chris Paul (30%) and Raptors guard Garrett Temple (20%) are the active players that GMs feel would make the best head coaches down the road.
Asked what they’d change about the NBA, 20% of GMs said the rules related to the tax aprons, trades, and roster construction are too restrictive and/or should be “indexed to (a) team’s market,” per Schuhmann, making it the top response.

Southeast Notes: KCP, Coulibaly, Davis, Baldwin, Hornets

October 7th, 2024 at 3:59pm CST by Rory Maher

In an interview with David Aldridge of The Athletic, veteran wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope explained why he chose to sign with the Magic in free agency.

“The young core,” Caldwell-Pope told Aldridge. “These are most of the guys that they had last year, just adding new pieces. But that core they have, they already believe in each other, trust each other. Just watching them, the way they played, it was not ‘me, I.’ Everybody took sacrifices. For a young team to be able to grow up that fast says a lot about them and their organization. That made my decision easy.

“They were one of the best defensive teams last year, and that’s what I like to do — defend. Natural fit. It was easy for me to just come in and fit right in and not try to step on anyone’s toes. When I talk to most of the young guys, it’s about defense, them helping me and what I see and they don’t see, and I’m telling them. Everybody is eager to learn, I would say.”

Caldwell-Pope, a key role player on two championship-winning teams in the past five years (the Lakers and Nuggets, respectively), was one of the top free agents to switch teams this summer, going from Denver to Orlando. He signed a three-year, $66MM deal with the Magic.

Here’s more from the Southeast:

Second-year wing Bilal Coulibaly and showcased his offseason improvement during the Wizards‘ preseason opener on Sunday, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. According to Robbins, Coulibaly appears “stronger, more confident and more skilled.” The 20-year-old grew an inch, added 10 pounds to his thin frame, won a silver medal with the French national team, and has also developed his ball-handling, particularly with his left hand, after his rookie campaign ended due to a fractured right wrist.
Wizards guard Johnny Davis is another player who looks improved as he enters his third season, Robbins adds. Davis struggled over his first two seasons, averaging just 4.0 PPG and 1.8 RPG on .394/.282/.549 shooting in 78 combined games (13.3 MPG). However, he reworked his shooting form over the summer with his personal trainer in Wisconsin. “The past two years,” Davis told The Athletic on Sunday night, “a development coach from each year has been tinkering with my shot, messing with it. So I came back into this year, and I said, ‘Nobody is touching my jump shot. I’m just going to leave it as it is, leave it comfortable.’ And they’ve left me alone about it. So, it feels really good right now. I’ve been working on it the whole summer, so I’m just glad to see it pay off.”
While it’s encouraging that Davis seems to have rediscovered some of what made him a former lottery pick (No. 10 overall in 2022), he’s still deep on the depth chart. Robbins wouldn’t be surprised if the Wizards decline their fourth-year options on Davis and Patrick Baldwin Jr., pointing out that neither player was drafted by the current front office. If that comes to fruition, both players would be unrestricted free agents in 2025.
The Hornets dealt with a plethora of injuries to key players last season. In their preseason opener, they had four players out: Mark Williams (left foot), Grant Williams (right hamstring), Cody Martin (right wrist, thumb) and Nick Smith (left groin strain). Head coach Charles Lee doesn’t seem worried about any of the injuries though, per Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “No concerns,” Lee said. “Everything seems like it’s minor injuries at the moment — some nicks, some bruises. Unfortunately, Grant is another guy that kind of tweaked his hamstring in the preseason, but he was a full participant in camp. There are no worries from my standpoint because a lot of these guys are following their return to play plans and it seems like they’re in a really good place.” Mark Williams is set to be reevaluated on Thursday, while Smith will be checked out in a week.