Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Notes: Wall, Beal, Porter, Gortat

October 27th, 2018 at 8:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

The new version of the Wizards seems as dysfunctional as ever, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. John Wall and Bradley Beal both questioned the team’s effort and focus following Friday’s loss in Sacramento, which dropped Washington to 1-4.

“That’s the proof in the pudding. Everybody on their own agenda,” Wall said. “We showed glimpses when we do stuff as a team. We show how good we can be and then we go back to trying to do it individually, and that’s mostly on the defensive end. Not helping each other out, not team rebounding, and that’s what’s killing us.”

Wall also claimed that some players are “worried about who’s getting shots, where the ball is going on the offensive end,” while Beal suggested the team needs to “get out of our comfort zone.” Disunity and public disputes between players have plagued the Wizards in the past, Buckner notes, but there were hopes this season might be different after some offseason personnel moves.

There’s more Wizards news to pass along:

Wall and Beal didn’t specify who their comments were directed at, but coach Scott Brooks may have provided a clue, Buckner relays in the same story. Kelly Oubre turned in a 22-point performance and played 29 minutes, taking time away from Otto Porter. “I don’t know if you’ve seen Kelly the last three games. He deserved more minutes. … He’s going to keep playing more minutes if he keeps playing well,” Brooks said. “ … Otto, you know, he has to just keep playing and can’t worry about your shots and worry about your shot-making, but Kelly is playing well.”
The Wizards will get their first look at Marcin Gortat tomorrow since an offseason trade that sent him to the Clippers. Gortat was sometimes portrayed as a disruptive influence, but Brooks had nothing but kind words for his former center, Buckner tweets. “March was good. I had him for two years. He gave us consistent effort. He gave us consistency,” Brooks said. “He was the machine. The Polish Machine, and that’s a good name for him because he practiced every day, he played every game.”
The Wizards have been carrying 13 players since opening night and have three more days to fill one of their open roster spots.

Markieff Morris Fined $15K

October 24th, 2018 at 7:34pm CST by clarkcrum

Per Candace Buckner of The Washington Post, the NBA has fined Wizards forward Markieff Morris $15K for unsportsmanlike conduct during Washington’s game at Portland on Monday. Morris tugged on the shorts of Seth Curry towards the end of regulation while Morris was not in the game.

Injury Updates: Cousins, Howard, Knight, Murray

October 22nd, 2018 at 10:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins is making good progress from his torn left Achilles tendon and will be “integrated into controlled aspects of team practices” in the near future, according to a team release. He is not ready to participate in scrimmages at this point but he will continue off-court strength and conditioning, the release adds. While the news is encouraging, it’s apparent that Cousins won’t see the court any time soon. Golden State will take it slow with its surprise free agent prize to make sure he’s healthy for the postseason. Golden State hasn’t set a timetable for his return. Cousins signed a one-year, $5.3MM pact with the aim of winning a ring before returning to the free agent market.

We have more injury-related news from around the league:

Dwight Howard didn’t travel with the Wizards for the start of their five-game road trip, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post tweets. Howard returned to practice last week after suffering a buttocks injury during training camp but has yet to make his Washington debut. It’s possible Howard could rejoin the team during the trip but the fact that he didn’t travel to Portland for the game on Monday night suggests his return is not imminent.
Rockets point guard Brandon Knight isn’t close to returning, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. Acquired from the Suns in late August, Knight sat out last season after surgery on his left ACL. He then developed an infection after another minor procedure during the offseason that dramatically set back his rehab, according to Feigen. There’s no timetable for Knight’s return. “I feel it’s going well,” Knight said. “Every day I’m working hard to feel like my normal self, to get back to playing, game mode. It’s tough to put a timetable on things. Just going day-by-day and attack each day as best I can and win the day. That’s kind of how I look at it.”
Spurs guard Dejounte Murray underwent knee surgery on Friday, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Murray suffered a torn right ACL during a preseason game and is expected to miss the season.

Otto Porter Struggling To Make His Mark

October 21st, 2018 at 4:43pm CST by Eric Spyropoulos

After another quiet performance from Otto Porter in the Wizards‘ loss to the Raptors on Saturday night, head coach Scott Brooks had some telling quotes regarding Porter’s performance, as Chase Hughes recounts for NBC Sports Washington.

Porter was the team’s most efficient player last season, but only attempted 11.5 shots per game. The storyline throughout training camp and the preseason was for the Wizards to work to get Porter more involved, but so far the results haven’t supported their intentions.

With the Wizards beginning a five-game road trip tomorrow, Porter figures to play a key role in helping the team turnaround after their slow start.

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots

October 19th, 2018 at 1:57pm CST by Luke Adams

When the Kings sign Troy Williams to a two-way contract after he clears waivers today, as is expected, they’ll become the 16th NBA team to fill all 17 of their available roster spots, with 15 players on standard contracts and two more on two-way pacts.

Still, that will leave nearly half of the league’s teams that will still have at least one opening on their rosters, either on the standard 15-man squad or in their two-way slots.

For many clubs, that decision is primarily financially motivated. Teams like the Warriors, Rockets, Thunder, Raptors, and Wizards all project to have pricey luxury tax bills at season’s end, so there’s no need for them to push those projected penalties higher by carrying an extra player they won’t use.

Other teams may simply prefer to preserve some roster flexibility rather than carrying a full 15-man squad. The Lakers, for instance, aren’t close to the tax line, but have an open roster spot for now. That could allow the team to make a trade or signing later to fortify its roster without costing anyone a job.

Listed below, with the help of our roster counts breakdown, are the teams that aren’t carrying full rosters.

Teams with an open 15-man roster spot:

Charlotte Hornets
Cleveland Cavaliers
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Lakers
Miami Heat
Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder
Toronto Raptors
Washington Wizards
- Note: The Wizards have two open roster spots and will need to fill one of them by October 30.

Teams with an open two-way slot:

New Orleans Pelicans
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers
- Note: The Blazers have two open two-way slots.
San Antonio Spurs

Jordan McRae Has Leg Up In Race For Wizards' Roster Spot

October 18th, 2018 at 8:55pm CST by JD Shaw

Jordan McRae has a leg up in the race for the Wizards‘ 14th roster spot, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Washington must fill that spot soon after trading Jodie Meeks, so McRae could have his two-way contract converted into a standard deal.
The Wizards have made a series of changes to their coaching staff, the team announced in a press release this week. Robert Pack and Ryan Richman will join the front of the bench, with Kristi Toliver joining the back of the bench as an assistant. Alex McLean and Landon Tatum were also promoted to assistant coaches.

Troy Brown Will See Time In G League

October 17th, 2018 at 8:23pm CST by Arthur Hill

Wizards rookie Troy Brown can expect to spend at least part of the season in the G League, tweets Doug McKinney of NBC Sports. The additions of Jeff Green and Austin Rivers over the summer will limit Brown’s opportunities for playing time at the NBA level.

Additional Details On Jodie Meeks Trade

October 17th, 2018 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

As part of their trade for Jodie Meeks, the Bucks received $1.5MM in cash from the Wizards, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). Taking into account Meeks’ salary, Milwaukee essentially paid $1.4MM for a future second-round pick, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). Washington’s tax savings as a result of the deal will be significantly larger than that.

As for the draft picks involved in the deal, the Bucks already owned the Wizards’ top-55 protected 2020 second-round pick. Milwaukee sent that pick back to Washington in the swap, and the Wizards essentially returned it with new protections, per Katz and Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter links).

That 2020 second-rounder now has 46-60 protection, so the Bucks will receive it if it falls between 31 and 45. If it doesn’t, Milwaukee will instead receive the Wizards’ 2022 second-rounder (unprotected).

Dwight Howard Practiced In Full On Monday

October 16th, 2018 at 1:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Although Dwight Howard‘s status for opening night remains unclear, the new Wizards center practiced in full on Monday for the first time, per Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (Twitter link).

Bucks Acquire Jodie Meeks From Wizards

October 15th, 2018 at 4:45pm CST by Luke Adams

4:45pm: The trade is official, according to an announcement from the Bucks (Twitter link). Milwaukee’s announcement notes that Meeks has been placed on the suspended list, allowing him to avoid counting against the Bucks’ roster limit, so it appears he won’t be waived immediately.

3:34pm: The Bucks and Wizards have agreed to a trade that will send Jodie Meeks to Milwaukee along with cash, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The Bucks will subsequently waive Meeks, Wojnarowski adds.

Previous reports indicated that the Bucks would also receive a future second-round pick as part of the swap, which Woj confirms (via Twitter). According to Jordan Schultz of ESPN (Twitter link), Milwaukee is expected to send out a heavily-protected second-rounder to complete the deal.

The cash the Bucks receive in the deal will likely be enough to cover most or all of Meeks’ salary for 2018/19, so Milwaukee will get a chance to add a second-round pick for essentially nothing. The Wizards already owe their top-55 protected 2020 second-round pick to the Bucks, so the simplest move would be to just remove the protection from that traded pick.

For the Wizards, the motivation is to reduce their projected luxury tax bill — Meeks’ $3,454,500 cap charge would have been partially reduced as a result of his suspension, which still has 19 games left on it, but that contract would still have cost the Wizards exponentially more in tax penalties. By replacing Meeks with a minimum salary player, Washington will save some money, despite sending cash to the Bucks in the trade.

The Bucks will use a $3,384,176 traded player exception created in last November’s Greg Monroe/Eric Bledsoe trade in order to absorb Meeks’ salary. While that trade exception technically isn’t worth as much as Meeks’ cap hit, the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement allows teams to trade for a salary worth the value of the TPE plus $100K. That gives Milwaukee just enough wiggle room on Meeks.

A part-time player in D.C. last season, Meeks averaged just 6.3 PPG on .399/.343/.863 shooting in 77 games before being banned 25 games for violating the league’s anti-drug program. Even after serving the final 19 games of that suspension, he wasn’t expected to be a major part of the Wizards’ rotation in 2018/19. He’ll be on the lookout for a new team once he clears waivers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.