Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Playoff Teams With Open Roster Spots

March 6th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors became the latest NBA team to fill their final open roster spot today, signing Andrew Bogut to a rest-of-season deal. The move made Golden State the ninth club currently holding a postseason spot to fill its 15-man roster.

Between now and April 10, more teams figure to join that list. During the regular season, there are benefits to carrying 14 – or even 13 – players for long stretches, particularly for healthy teams with luxury-tax concerns. But when the postseason rolls around, there’s little downside to filling the entire roster, even if it just means adding a 15th man during the final week (or day) of the season.

With that in mind, here are the teams in the top eight in each conference that still have at least one open spot on their 15-man rosters and could make a move or two in the coming weeks:

Playoff teams with multiple open roster spots:

Toronto Raptors (2)
Houston Rockets (2)
Oklahoma City Thunder (2)

The Raptors, Rockets, and Thunder will all be required to sign at least one more player in the coming weeks to ensure that they get back up to the NBA-mandated minimum of 14 players. Houston may actually need to make multiple moves, since a third open spot would open on the Rockets’ roster once Terrence Jones‘ latest 10-day contract expires.

Playoff teams with one open roster spot:

Boston Celtics
Los Angeles Clippers
San Antonio Spurs
Brooklyn Nets *

While the Celtics, Clippers, and Spurs each have one open roster spot, the Nets actually have a full 15-man squad for now. That could change as soon as Friday though, as Tahjere McCall‘s 10-day deal with Brooklyn is set to expire overnight on Thursday.

Playoff contenders with at least one open roster spot:

Miami Heat (2)
Sacramento Kings (1)
Washington Wizards (1)

Of the teams within three games of a playoff spot, these are the ones with roster openings. While the Kings and Wizards may opt not to add reinforcements as they push for a postseason berth, the Heat – like the other teams with two openings – will be required to add a 14th man soon.

For a full breakdown of the current NBA roster counts, be sure to check out our tracker.

Dwight Howard Experiences Setback During Rehab

March 5th, 2019 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Dwight Howard suffered a “minor setback” while rehabilitating his back injury, Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said today (Twitter link via Fred Katz of The Athletic). According to Brooks, the veteran center – who has been doing non-contact drills in Washington – tweaked his hamstring.

With the Wizards technically still in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, three games behind the eighth-seeded Magic, there’s some incentive to get Howard back in the lineup before the end of the season. However, a Washington playoff berth and a Howard return both appear increasingly unlikely. The 33-year-old hasn’t played since November 18 and wasn’t taking contact even before his setback.

Assuming Howard is unable to make it back this season, he’ll finish his first year in D.C. having appeared in just nine games, with averages of 12.8 PPG and 9.2 RPG.

The former first overall pick has a 2019/20 player option worth approximately $5.6MM, which looks like a good bet to be exercised. After his lost ’18/19 season, Howard likely wouldn’t be able to match that salary on the open market if he were to opt out.

With Howard still on the shelf, the Wizards will continue to rely on Bobby Portis as their starting center, with Thomas Bryant earning minutes off the bench.

Southeast Notes: Brown, Parker, Hernangomez, Adams

February 27th, 2019 at 8:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Wizards‘ solution to losing John Wall for at least 12 months appears to include grooming rookie Troy Brown Jr. as a point guard, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Brown has the size of a small forward, but grew up running the point. Coach Scott Brooks and team president Ernie Grunfeld both believe he has the potential to be successful at that position in the NBA.

Much of his training may come in the G League, where Washington’s Capital City affiliate is short on point guards with Chasson Randle on the Wizards’ roster and Chris Chiozza on a 10-day deal with the Rockets. Tomas Satoransky will be a free agent this summer, and even if Washington is able to keep him, Brown could be useful as a backup.

“[Point guard] is not a position that you can just learn it as fast as you would like, or as fast as the coaches would like,” Brooks said. “It takes time. It’s a very tough position to learn. We’re very patient with him.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Tony Parker hasn’t indicated whether he plans to play another season, but the Hornets would welcome him back if he does, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte has a $5.25MM team option on the deal that Parker signed last summer, and GM Mitch Kupchak said recently that he has exceeded all the expectation the Hornets had for him.
Willy Hernangomez has fallen out of favor in Charlotte, but that doesn’t mean the Hornets are done with him, Bonnell adds in the same piece. The third-year center has dropped out of the rotation, playing just once in the past eight games. However, Bonnell notes that young big men often get several chances to succeed and states that Hernangomez may have trade value this summer.
The new contract that Jaylen Adams got from the Hawks includes a $100K guarantee on his $1.4MM salary for next season, tweets Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. Adams was a two-way player until Atlanta promoted him to the 15-man roster last week.

Otto Porter Jr. Discusses Trade To The Bulls, Role With Team

February 26th, 2019 at 11:14pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Otto Porter Jr. entered into a new chapter of his basketball career when he was dealt to the Bulls earlier this month. The 25-year-old small forward is happy with his new home, telling Hoops Rumors that he believes Chicago has a bright future.

“We have a lot of young guys, young pieces. The team is definitely headed in the right direction, trying to get back to winning basketball here,” Porter told Hoops Rumors before last Friday’s game against the Magic.

Porter, who grew up in Missouri, added that the transition to Chicago has been a smooth one.

“Going from D.C. to Chicago, I’m actually closer to home,” he said. “So [right away], I was able to see a lot of my family in my first home game with the Bulls.”

When he signed his four-year, $106MM with the Wizards during the summer of 2017, the small forward planned on living out his contract in the city where he attended college and made his NBA debut.

“When I signed the deal [with the Wizards], I didn’t think I was going to get traded,” Porter explained to Hoops Rumors.

Leading up to the trade deadline, management reportedly reiterated to Porter that they weren’t going to trade him away. The former No. 3 overall pick previously said he felt that the team lied to him.

Wizards owner Ted Leonsis addressed the response, telling multi-media reporter Mike Wise (Twitter link) that understands Porter’s stance and he feels “terrible” about it.

“We did tell him we weren’t going to trade him. We were going to keep our core together,” Leonsis said, before adding that the team was preparing to make another deal that kept Porter, Bradley Beal, and John Wall together on the team.

“We actually had some other things that we were going to do, and another trade that would have kept the core together and given us flexibility,” Leonsis said, admitting that the hypothetical deal didn’t pan out.

Porter developed into an ultra-efficient scorer over the past few years in Washington, someone who’s capable of excelling as a primary ball-handler or alongside other play-makers. The 2017/18 season was his apex with the Wizards, as he made 44.1% of his 4.1 attempts from behind the arc, a figure that was bested by just two players leaguewide. Porter finished the campaign eighth overall in turnover percentage and sixth among all wing players in effective field goal percentage.

While his numbers dipped slightly to begin the 2018/19 campaign, peak Porter has arrived in Chicago. During his six games to date with his new club, Porter has a true shooting percentage of 65.4%, making over half of his 27 attempts behind the arc. His player efficiency rate over the first 191 minutes of his Bulls career is an electric 19.4.

The Bulls are 4-2 with Porter in the starting lineup, though the wing left halfway through his sixth contest with the team after suffering a lower leg strain. Porter remains out with the ailment as of this writing.

The Wizards have gone 2-6 since making the trade. When asked what direction his former franchise was heading in, Porter replied, “I have no idea to be honest. I’m not focusing on them.”

From an on-court perspective, Porter’s role with the Bulls isn’t expected to be dissimilar to the one he had in Washington. Off the court, he moves from a situation in which many of his teammates were his elders to one in which his NBA experience trumps that of many fellow Bulls. He’s embracing the change.

“I’m one of the oldest on the team, so I have to [play a different role],” Porter told Hoops Rumors. “It’s pretty cool to be one of the vets here.”

Porter’s contract has two years left beyond this season, though his deal contains a player option on the final year, which comes in at approximately $28.5MM. He’ll get to see Chicago make one offseason of moves and play a season-and-a-half worth of games with his new club before making his decision on that option for 2020/21.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/26/19

February 26th, 2019 at 10:09pm CST by ChrisCrouse

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

The Jazz have recalled Grayson Allen from the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the team’s Twitter feed. The stint was Allen’s ninth assignment this season.
The Clippers have assigned Jerome Robinson to the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
The Pacers have assigned Edmond Sumner to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, according to the team’s transaction log. Sumner recently signed a two-year contract with Indiana.
The Wizards assigned Troy Brown Jr. to the Capital City Go-Go, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
The Heat have assigned Emanuel Terry to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Terry has seen action in just one game for Miami this season, playing just three minutes.
The Grizzlies have assigned Jevon Carter to the Memphis Hustle, per the team’s Twitter feed.

Satoransky Envisions Playing In Spain Again

February 25th, 2019 at 9:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Wizards point guard Tomas Satoransky has become a starter due to John Wall‘s injuries but he still envisions returning to Spain later in his career, as he told ACB.com in a story relayed by Sportando. Satoransky played for two Spanish teams before joining the NBA.

“I have a lot of goals to accomplish in the NBA, but I always think that I would love to return to Spain,” the Wizards guard said. “I grew up there, I love the people and Spanish basketball. I love Spanish life and, one day, I would love to return to Liga Endesa (the Spanish league).”

Wizards guard Jordan McRae is nearing the end of his 45-day NBA clock as a two-way player and he’s likely to spend more time in the G League to avoid reaching the limit, as Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington explains. The franchise would risk losing him or be forced to sign him to a standard contract if he doesn’t spend most of the next four weeks with the Capital City Go Go, Hughes continues. The team wants to retain McRae but it’s barely under the luxury tax threshold and doesn’t want to go over it by converting McRae’s contract, Hughes adds.

G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/23/19

February 23rd, 2019 at 9:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

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

The Wizards recalled rookie forward Troy Brown Jr. so he could play in tonight’s game against the Pacers, Washington announced in a tweet. It’s the 30th NBA game of the season for Brown, who entered the night averaging 2.4 PPG in about seven minutes per game.
The Raptors assigned Chris Boucher and Malcolm Miller for today’s game against Long Island, according to a tweet from Raptors 905.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/21/19

February 21st, 2019 at 9:49pm CST by JD Shaw

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

The Sixers have assigned guard Zhaire Smith to the Delware Blue Coats, the team announced on social media. Smith was selected by Philadelphia with the No. 16 overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft.
The Wizards have assigned Troy Brown to the Capital City Go-Go, according to a tweet from the team. Brown will be available for the team’s game against the Greensboro Swarm on Friday night.
The Suns recalled guard De’Anthony Melton from the Northern Arizona Suns, the team announced in a press release. Melton is averaging 18.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.3 assists with Northern Arizona on the season.

Dwight Howard To Begin On-Court Work

February 20th, 2019 at 10:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards‘ big free agent signing of the 2018 offseason hasn’t worked out as planned so far, as health issues have limited Dwight Howard to just nine games this season. However, Howard – who underwent surgery on his spine in November, appears to be making progress toward a return.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), Howard is scheduled to return to Washington today to begin on-court work. With the Wizards’ playoff hopes on life support, the team could use the veteran center back in its lineup to provide rebounding and low-post scoring down the stretch. As Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington notes though, it’s still not clear whether Howard is ready to participate in full practices or when he might be able to play in a game.

Bradley Beal: I Would Never Demand Trade

February 18th, 2019 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Wizards guard Bradley Beal took some time during All-Star weekend to do some recruiting, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington reports. Beal wouldn’t name the players he spoke with because he wanted to avoid any league discipline. “The recruiting process is really going alright. It’s going alright. I’m trying,” Beal said. “This is new for me. I’m definitely getting some ears and seeing what guys are looking for.”
Beal declared he would never demand a trade from the Wizards despite injuries and deals that have changed the outlook of a once promising season, Hughes writes in a separate story. “I always feel like if I requested a trade, and I didn’t get traded, there’s no way in hell I’m gonna be able to go and play with my teammates who know I don’t want to be here. That’s mind-boggling to me,” he told Hughes.