Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards' Eyeing Connelly

May 15th, 2019 at 8:39pm CST by clarkcrum

Now that the Nuggets’ season is over after a thrilling seven-game series loss to Portland, the Wizards are ramping up their efforts to hire Denver’s current president of basketball operations Tim Connelly to the same position in Washington, per Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington.

While there were questions as to why the Wizards would wait until the Nuggets’ season was over to pursue Connelly, Standig notes that Connelly wasn’t expected to fully explore a move until the Nuggets’ playoff run ended, despite reportedly having interest in running the Wizards.

The Nuggets appear to have an extremely bright future, but Connelly is from Baltimore and began his front office career in Washington in 1996 when he was hired as intern before working his way up to director of player personnel under then-general manager and Wizards’ legend Wes Unseld.

The Nuggets have been in a similar situation as this before. Back in 2013, Nuggets’ GM Masai Ujiri took the same position with the Raptors after team owner Stan Kroenke acquiesced to Ujiri’s desire to return to Toronto. It will interesting to see if a similar situation will arise with Connelly and the Wizards.

2019 NBA Draft Picks By Team

May 15th, 2019 at 2:19pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Sixers and Celtics suffered disappointing losses in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and face uncertain futures, both teams can at least fall back on the fact that they’re still loaded with draft assets. Philadelphia and Boston are two of only three NBA teams – the Hawks are the other – that possess at least four picks in the 2019 NBA draft.

As our full 2019 draft order shows, there are five other teams that more than two selections in this year’s draft. On the other end of the spectrum, nine teams own just one pick in 2018, while two teams – the Nuggets and Rockets – don’t have any selections.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2019 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 60 picks by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

Atlanta Hawks (5): 8, 10, 35, 41, 44
Philadelphia 76ers (5): 24, 33, 34, 42, 54
Boston Celtics (4): 14, 20, 22, 51
New Orleans Pelicans (3): 1, 39, 57
Charlotte Hornets (3): 12, 36, 52
Brooklyn Nets (3): 17, 27, 31
San Antonio Spurs (3): 19, 29, 49
Sacramento Kings (3): 40, 47, 60

Teams with two picks:

New York Knicks: 3, 55
Cleveland Cavaliers: 5, 26
Phoenix Suns: 6, 32
Chicago Bulls: 7, 38
Minnesota Timberwolves: 11, 43
Detroit Pistons: 15, 45
Orlando Magic: 16, 46
Indiana Pacers: 18, 50
Utah Jazz: 23, 53
Golden State Warriors: 28, 58
Los Angeles Clippers: 48, 56

Teams with one pick:

Memphis Grizzlies: 2
Los Angeles Lakers: 4
Washington Wizards: 9
Miami Heat: 13
Oklahoma City Thunder: 21
Portland Trail Blazers: 25
Milwaukee Bucks: 30
Dallas Mavericks: 37
Toronto Raptors: 59

Teams with no picks:

Denver Nuggets
Houston Rockets

Pelicans Win 2019 NBA Draft Lottery; Grizzlies, Knicks In Top 3

May 14th, 2019 at 7:53pm CST by Luke Adams

With Tuesday night’s lottery results now official, the top 14 picks in the 2019 NBA draft have been set. The lottery order is as follows:

New Orleans Pelicans
Memphis Grizzlies
New York Knicks
Los Angeles Lakers
Cleveland Cavaliers
Phoenix Suns
Chicago Bulls
Atlanta Hawks
Washington Wizards
Atlanta Hawks (from Mavericks)
Minnesota Timberwolves
Charlotte Hornets
Miami Heat
Boston Celtics (from Kings)

It’s a huge development for the Pelicans, who were facing the potential loss of franchise player Anthony Davis this offseason and only had a 6.0% chance of moving up in the draft. New head of basketball operations David Griffin will now have the opportunity to either sell Davis on staying in New Orleans by adding Duke forward Zion Williamson to play alongside him, or will be able to build around Williamson after trading AD.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, moved up to No. 2 (6.3% chance), putting them in position to potentially select Murray State point guard Ja Morant. Mike Conley, of course, has been the longtime point guard in Memphis, but he has been the subject of trade rumors for the last several months — drafting Morant would be a terrific way to replace Conley if the Grizzlies decide to move the veteran this summer.

Because they jumped up to No. 2, the Grizzlies will keep their pick (top-eight protected) rather than sending it to Boston. Memphis will now owe the Celtics their top-six protected first-round pick in 2020.

Knicks fans will be disappointed not to land a top-two pick, but considering they only had a 40.1% chance to land a top-three selection, things could have been worse. Another Duke prospect, R.J. Barrett, is widely considered the favorite to be the third player off the board, but New York could dangle that pick in trade talks if the team wants to shift into contention mode immediately.

Another big-market team, the Lakers, jumped up to No. 4 despite only having a 9.4% chance at a top-four pick (2.8% for No. 4). The Lakers could shop that pick for immediate help this spring, since they’re in win-now mode during LeBron James‘ tenure.

The Cavaliers, Suns, Bulls, and Wizards are among the losers of the night, having each slid down three spots in the draft order. The Hawks also moved down three spots, but they’ll still pick twice in the top 10, at Nos. 8 and 10.

Atlanta will receive the Mavericks‘ selection at No. 10 as a result of last year’s Luka Doncic/Trae Young swap. The pick was top-five protected, so Dallas would have retained it if it had moved up in the lottery. The Mavs will now own their 2020 and 2022 first-round selections — they’ll owe the Knicks their 2021 first-rounder (unprotected) and their 2023 first-rounder (top-10 protected) due to the Kristaps Porzingis deal.

The Celtics, rather than the Sixers, will receive the Kings‘ pick at No. 14. The 76ers would have swapped first-rounders if that pick had moved up to No. 1, but they’ll keep their own selection instead. Sacramento now has all its first-rounders moving forward.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Wizards' Front Office Search

May 9th, 2019 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

There have been no recent updates on the Wizards‘ search for a new head of basketball operations, leading to speculation that Washington is waiting to make a run at current Nuggets president of basketball ops Tim Connelly.

While Connelly’s Nuggets are still alive in the playoffs, David Aldridge of The Athletic argues that if Connelly is the Wizards’ man, they should go after him now. As Aldridge points out, active postseason runs didn’t stop the Timberwolves from hiring Gersson Rosas, or the Suns from naming Monty Williams their new head coach.

It’s not entirely clear if the Wizards are still targeting Connelly, but Aldridge hears from several sources that Denver’s head of basketball ops would be “delighted” to run the Wizards. A previous report referred to the Wizards’ open position as Connelly’s “dream job.” Connelly is still under contract with the Nuggets, but if the Wizards make an offer that significantly exceeds his current salary – which Aldridge says is “just north” of $2MM per year – then he could go to Denver’s ownership in good faith and ask for the opportunity to run his hometown team.

So far, the Wizards have interviewed Danny Ferry, Tommy Sheppard, Troy Weaver, and Rosas for the front office vacancy, Aldridge confirms.

As we wait to see what the Wizards do to replace Ernie Grunfeld, here’s more from around the Southeast…

The first priority for the Wizards‘ next head of basketball operations will be establishing a culture of accountability, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post, who provides a detailed account on how such a culture has been lacking in D.C. for years.

NBA Announces 2019 Draft Lottery Representatives

May 8th, 2019 at 11:47am CST by Luke Adams

With the NBA’s 2019 draft lottery set to take place next Tuesday night, the league has now officially confirmed who will represent each team on stage and in the lottery room on May 14.

While there are only 14 picks in the lottery – including four determined by the drawings of ping pong balls – there will be 15 team representatives in attendance due to various trades. The full breakdown of each club’s odds in this year’s lottery can be found right here.

Here’s the full list of 2019 lottery representatives, with each team sending two reps — one will be in the lottery room during the actual draw, while the other will be on stage for the broadcast portion of the event.

New York Knicks
- On stage: Patrick Ewing (former player)
- Lottery room: Allan Houston (special assistant to the GM)
- Top-four odds: 52.1%
Cleveland Cavaliers
- On stage: Nick Gilbert (son of team owner)
- Lottery room: Brock Aller (senior director of basketball operations)
- Top-four odds: 52.1%
Phoenix Suns
- On stage: Deandre Ayton
- Lottery room: Jim Pitman (CFO)
- Top-four odds: 52.1%
Chicago Bulls
- On stage: Horace Grant (special advisor to president/COO)
- Lottery room: Joey Reinsdorf (son of president/COO)
- Top-four odds: 48.0%
Atlanta Hawks
- On stage: Jami Gertz (co-owner)
- Lottery room: Michelle Leftwich (VP, salary cap administration)
- Top-four odds: 42.1%
  - Note: The Hawks will also land a second lottery pick if the Mavericks’ pick doesn’t move into the top four.
Washington Wizards
- On stage: Raul Fernandez (vice chairman)
- Lottery room: Tommy Sheppard (senior VP of basketball operations)
- Top-four odds: 37.2%
New Orleans Pelicans
- On stage: Alvin Gentry (head coach)
- Lottery room: David Griffin (executive VP of basketball operations)
- Top-four odds: 26.3%
Memphis Grizzlies
- On stage: Elliot Perry (minority owner / director of player support)
- Lottery room: Zach Kleiman (executive VP of basketball operations)
- Top-four odds: 26.3%
  - Note: The Grizzlies will lose their pick if it falls outside of the top eight (42.6% chance).
Dallas Mavericks
- On stage: Cynthia Marshall (CEO)
- Lottery room: Keith Grant (assistant GM)
- Top-four odds: 26.3%
  - Note: The Mavericks will lose their pick if it doesn’t move into the top four.
Minnesota Timberwolves
- On stage: Gersson Rosas (president of basketball operations)
- Lottery room: Brad Ruiter (VP of communications)
- Top-four odds: 13.9%
Los Angeles Lakers
- On stage: Kyle Kuzma
- Lottery room: Rob Pelinka (GM)
- Top-four odds: 9.4%
Charlotte Hornets
- On stage: James Borrego (head coach)
- Lottery room: Buzz Peterson (assistant GM)
- Top-four odds: 4.8%
Miami Heat
- On stage: Alonzo Mourning (VP, player programs)
- Lottery room: Andy Elisburg (senior VP of basketball operations / GM)
- Top-four odds: 4.8%
Boston Celtics
- On stage: Rich Gotham (president)
- Lottery room: Mike Zarren (assistant GM)
- Top-four odds: 3.8%
  - Note: The Celtics will receive the Grizzlies’ pick if it falls outside of the top eight and the Kings’ pick if it falls between 2-14.
Philadelphia 76ers
- On stage: Chris Heck (president)
- Lottery room: Ian Hillman (VP, strategy & analytics)
- Top-four odds: 1.0%
  - Note: The Sixers will only receive a pick if the Kings’ first-rounder jumps up to No. 1.

Mystery Candidate May Intrigue Wizards

May 3rd, 2019 at 5:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and Wizards interim GM Tommy Sheppard are potential candidates, along with Danny Ferry, for Washington’s top executive post, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said in a Wizards Talk Podcast relayed by NBC Sports Washington’s Caroline Brandt. Ferry, who most recently was interim GM with the Pelicans, interviewed for the job this week. Windhorst also indicated there’s at least one mystery candidate the Wizards will pursue. “There may be another name or two that I’m not willing to say just yet who may be on the Wizards’ list,” Windhorst said.

Aldridge: Wizards Should Trade Beal

May 2nd, 2019 at 3:01pm CST by Luke Adams

In the view of David Aldridge of The Athletic, the time is right for the Wizards to trade Bradley Beal and go all-in on a rebuild. While a Beal-less Wizards squad would be terrible in the short term, it’s the franchise’s best route to contention in the long term, Aldridge argues.

Latest On Wizards’ Front Office Search

May 1st, 2019 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams

After the Wizards fired Ernie Grunfeld with eight days left in the regular season, updates on their search for a new head of basketball operations were few and far between for the next several weeks. However, that changed this week.

According to various reports, three candidates to replace Grunfeld were in Washington to interview with the Wizards on Tuesday. According to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (via Twitter), those candidates apparently met with the team one after another. They are as follows:

Danny Ferry: Formerly the GM of the Cavaliers and the Hawks, Ferry saw his time in Atlanta come to an end after he read an offensive comment from a scouting report on Luol Deng out loud during a conference call. Ferry is a Maryland native, and his father Bob Ferry was the Washington Bullets’ GM for much of the 1970s and ’80s. Most recently, Danny served as the Pelicans’ interim GM following Dell Demps‘ ouster.
Gersson Rosas: A longtime Rockets executive, Rosas currently serves as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations. He has drawn interest from multiple teams with front office openings this spring, including the Pelicans and Timberwolves — he remains in the running for the Minnesota job.
Troy Weaver: The VP of basketball operations for the Thunder, Weaver was linked to the Pistons’ head of basketball operations position in 2018, and to Kings and Hawks jobs in 2017. Interestingly, Weaver was mentioned as a potential candidate to replace Grunfeld way back in 2016.

Current Wizards interim general manager Tommy Sheppard is also a contender to claim the permanent job, and according to both Buckner and Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington, Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly is still very much on the Wizards’ radar.

Named a top candidate to run the Wizards’ front office in the wake of Grunfeld’s departure, Connelly was raised in Baltimore, Maryland and previously worked for the club. Sources tell Standig that personal considerations make the idea of returning to D.C. attractive for Connelly, with one source describing the position as Connelly’s “dream job.” However, given Denver’s ongoing success, it’s not clear if he’d want to leave the Nuggets at this time.

Finally, Standig provides one more interesting tidbit, citing sources who say that Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri is “intrigued by the idea of moving to Washington.” Ujiri’s wife is from the D.C. area and the city would provide him with a larger platform for his “Basketball Without Borders” program, Standig notes.

Still, a league source tells NBC Sports Washington that Toronto is unlikely to grant rival teams permission to interview Ujiri.

And-Ones: Wizards, Thompson, Parsons, Grizzlies

April 30th, 2019 at 11:16pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Wizards are conducting several interviews for their head of basketball operations opening this week. Former Hawks GM Danny Ferry met with the team on Tuesday and current Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas is also in town for his meeting, as we relayed earlier today.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) reports that Thunder VP of basketball operations Troy Weaver was in D.C. as well to interview for the position. Interim GM Tommy Sheppard is also under consideration.

Here’s more from around the league:

Marc Stein of the New York Times believes Klay Thompson is “100 percent staying put with the Warriors and will not consider external suitors,” as he writes in his latest newsletter. Thompson will be a free agent at the end of the season.
Chandler Parsons had some encouraging stretches for the Grizzlies and he hopes to build on that progress, as David Cobb of the Memphis Commercial Appeal passes along. “I’m going to continue to do all the right things this summer and put myself in the best situation to play a lot of games next year,” Parsons said. “Where that will be, I don’t know. You’ve got to ask the guys upstairs. But I’m fully committed to the team and coming back, if that’s what it’s going to be.”
Parsons has one year left on his four-year, $94MM deal and Cobb (same piece) wonders if the team will be able to trade the forward. The scribe believes the Grizzlies would have to attach an asset to Parsons in order to extract any value from a trade despite Parsons showing progress this season.

Wizards Interviewing Ferry, Rosas For Front Office Job

April 30th, 2019 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Pelicans interim GM Danny Ferry and current Rockets executive vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas will be the first candidate to meet with the Wizards about the team’s top front office job. According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, Rosas is currently in Washington to interview with the club, while Candace Buckner of The Washington Post tweets that Ferry met with the Wizards today.

Rosas has been a popular target in recent years for teams with openings at the top of their basketball operations departments, having already been linked to the Pelicans’ and Timberwolves’ jobs this spring. New Orleans went with David Griffin, but a source tells Katz that Rosas is still very much in the mix for Minnesota’s president of basketball operations position.

A longtime member of one of the NBA’s most analytically driven front offices, Rosas could be a good fit for the Wizards. As Katz points out, owner Ted Leonsis has indicated that he’d prefer Ernie Grunfeld‘s replacement to place an emphasis on data and analytics.

As for Ferry, he has previous experience running a front office in Cleveland and Atlanta, and re-assumed that role in New Orleans after Dell Demps‘ ouster during the 2018/19 season.

According to Katz, Mike Forde, an outside consultant, is helping the Wizards with their search after previously assisting the Pelicans. Rosas and Perry were both part of the Pelicans’ process, and other executives that showed up on New Orleans’ list – such as Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon and Warriors assistant GM Larry Harris – could also be of interest to the Wizards.