Former Hornets and Mavericks guard Aaron Harrison has backed out of his agreement to play with Galatasaray in the Turkish league, Orazio Cauchi of Sportando tweets. The reasons behind Harrison’s decision are unknown, though the economic crisis in the country could have played a role, Cauchi adds.
Harrison was not tendered a qualifying offer this summer by Dallas and became a unrestricted free agent. He joined the Wizards’ summer league team but shot poorly in five Las Vegas games, making just 19% of his attempts while averaging 5.8 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 15.4 MPG.
The former Kentucky Wildcat appeared in nine games, including three starts, with Dallas last season after signing a 10-day deal and then a rest-of-the-season contract in early April. The 6’6” Harrison averaged 6.7 PPG in 25.9 MPG but shot just 27.5% from the field. He saw action in a combined 26 games with Charlotte the previous two seasons.
With LeBron James out of the East for the first time since 2003, confidence is on the rise around the conference. Jaylen Brown essentially guaranteed that the Celtics will make it to the NBA Finals, while Brook Lopez has said the Bucks love their chances to come out of the East.
Wizards point guard John Wall joined the chorus this week, telling Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports that he feels like “we’re all equal” in the East. While the Wizards haven’t made it to the NBA Finals in recent years, neither have the Celtics, Raptors, Sixers, Pacers, or any other non-LeBron Eastern team, Wall points out.
“Y’all might have been to the Eastern Conference finals, where we haven’t been to, but none of y’all were going to the Finals. It was one guy going to the Finals,” Wall said. “Ain’t nobody separated from nothing. I know one guy that separated himself from the Eastern Conference every year and that was LeBron James and the Cavs. Other than that … if you lose in the second round, or the conference finals, you still didn’t get to your ultimate goal.”
Wall went on to say that “on paper” a handful of Eastern teams look strong, but he observed that there are still questions about how the Celtics will mesh with Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving returning, or how Kawhi Leonard will look with the Raptors. In Wall’s view, the top four or five teams in the East are all bunched together, and he’s willing to put the Wizards “right there” in that group.
This kind of talk is nothing new from the Wizards. Heading into the 2017/18 season, Bradley Beal called Washington the team to beat in the East, despite the fact that the club had been eliminated by Boston in the second round of the 2017 playoffs — multiple Wizards that year claimed publicly that they would’ve beaten the Cavaliers in the postseason if given the chance. This past spring, after losing as the No. 8 seed to the top-seeded Raptors, Markieff Morris told reporters that “sometimes the better teams don’t win.”
So far, the Wizards have done little to back up their big talk, and oddsmakers aren’t convinced they’ll do so this year either — the Wizards’ early over/under of 44.5 wins ranks sixth in the East, behind Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia, Indiana, and Milwaukee. Still, perhaps with LeBron out of the conference, this is the year that Washington makes its run.
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Twenty-six NBA teams had their own G League squads in 2017/18, and a 27th will enter the league in 2018/19, with the Wizards introducing Capital City Go-Go, their new NBAGL affiliate. Today, the franchise issued a press release announcing that Pops Mensah-Bonsu will serve as the Go-Go’s first general manager, while Jarell Christian will be the team’s head coach.
Mensah-Bonsu, who played his college ball at nearby George Washington University, entered the NBA as a player in 2006 and spent time with the Mavericks, Spurs, Raptors, Rockets, and Pelicans (then the Hornets) over the course of his career. He also had an extensive professional career in international leagues as a player before retiring in 2015 and working for the Spurs and the NBPA.
“I am humbled to be entrusted with this position and would like to thank the Wizards organization for the opportunity,” Mensah-Bonsu said in a statement. “Washington is my second home and the city has embraced me ever since I stepped on the George Washington campus. I am excited to be able to give back by making sure that the Go-Go is a pillar in the community and a team that the city can get behind.”
As for Christian, he has served as an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate, for the last four seasons. He briefly held the interim head coach position for the club during the 2016/17 season when Mark Daigneault was promoted to the Thunder’s staff.
With the Wizards’ affiliate set to join the G League for the 2018/19 season, only three NBA clubs – the Nuggets, Pelicans, and Trail Blazers – are still without an NBAGL affiliate of their own.
John Wall believes the Wizards may benefit from reduced media attention heading into next season, relays Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Even after adding Dwight Howard and Austin Rivers to a talented lineup, Washington isn’t being touted in the same class with the Celtics, Sixers and Raptors. “When we were that team that was flying under the radar, we came out and showed people what we was capable of,” Wall said. “Then, when we were the team that everyone was talking about and everyone had so much high expectations for, we kind of failed those expectations.”
Markieff Morris of the Wizards and Marcus Morris of the Celtics are preparing for free agency next summer by changing their representatives, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
Both players signed with Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, who is best known as the agent for LeBron James. Paul has a number of other high-profile clients, such as John Wall, Ben Simmons and Eric Bledsoe.
Markieff Morris has spent the past two-and-a-half seasons in Washington after being acquired in a trade at the 2016 deadline. A seven-year veteran, he will make $8.6MM in the final season of a four-year, $32MM contract.
Marcus Morris has also been in the league seven years and is coming off his first season in Boston after being traded there by the Pistons last summer. He has a $5.375MM salary for 2018/19 in the final season of a four-year, $20MM deal.
“At that price, I think he was the greatest addition that we could add at that position,” Leonsis said. “Really, it all comes down to the salary cap. Dwight is paid like a max player. We are paying him the mid-level exception. … He’s at the time of his career where he’s been paid a lot of money. He’s still getting paid max money. With the buyout that [the Nets] are paying him, we’re paying him the mid-level exception.”
This marks the third straight offseason that Howard has changed teams, but Leonsis calls his perceived bad reputation a “media-generated issue.” Howard remains productive and durable at age 32, averaging 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds in 81 games with the Hornets last season.
“He will be a great addition to the team,” Leonsis added. “He wants to be here. His skillset is what we needed; someone who can run, play defense and rebound.”
There’s more today out of the nation’s capital:
Leonsis is thrilled about the offseason and gives team president Ernie Grunfeld an A for his performance in rebuilding the team, Hughes writes in a separate story. In addition to landing Howard, the Wizards added depth to their bench by trading for Austin Rivers, signing Jeff Green as a free agent and drafting Troy Brown. “I thought what Ernie did this offseason is exactly what we had planned,” Leonsis said. “I think when a season ends you sit down and see what you want to accomplish. For the Wizards, it was we need to have more balance and more depth and be more prepared for injuries.”
Howard is responding to critics who contend his low-post style doesn’t fit in the modern NBA, Hughes notes in another story. Howard has posted Instagram videos of his offseason workout showing him shooting 3-pointers and jump shots off the dribble from the foul line.
John Wall is upset about the lack of loyalty the Raptors showed to his friend DeMar DeRozan, Hughes relays in yet another article. DeRozan was shipped to San Antonio as the key piece in the Kawhi Leonard trade, allegedly after being promised by GM Masai Ujiri that he wouldn’t be dealt. “In my opinion, I don’t think there was loyalty shown on DeRozan’s part,” Wall said. “This is a business and you understand that. [But] if you talk to me man-to-man, then just be honest with me. We’re all grown men.”
John Wall showed off his recruiting skills by convincing Dwight Howard to come to the Wizards, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Howard wasn’t considering the Wizards as he was negotiating a buyout from the Nets, but an appeal from Wall changed that. “No lie, when I saw the message on Instagram, I really got so happy,” Howard said at his introductory press conference this week. “I was like ‘John just DM’d me, oh man this is crazy!’ After that, I really just started to put on my thinking cap. I just thought about all the possibilities. I was like ‘Man, this could be the best spot for me.'”
Expectations are rising for the Wizards after the addition of Dwight Howard, and team officials are happy to join in, writes Tyler Byrum of NBC Sports Washington. The Wizards were able to add Howard at a bargain price following his buyout with the Nets, giving him about $11MM over two years with a player option on the second season.
Dwight Howard plans on retiring with the Wizards and believes he’s got a long way to go before the end of his career, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington relays. Howard was signed to a two-year deal worth approximately $11MM after being bought out by the Nets, who traded with the Hornets for his contract in a salary dump. Howard said during a press conference he anticipates playing “the rest of my career” with Washington. Howard, 32, also doesn’t see the finish line in sight. “For me, I plan on playing this game for another good eight years,” he said.
In other news regarding the Wizards:
Guard Chris Chiozza, who played on the Wizards’ summer-league team, was one of the top undrafted rookies in Las Vegas, according to Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype. He averaged 7.4 APG and his assist percentage (40.1) was the second-best among all qualified rookies. The 6-foot Chiozza, who played four collegiate seasons at Florida, remains unsigned.
Free agent signee Jeff Green believes the Wizards can make a run similar to the Cavaliers’ trip to the Finals last season, Hughes reports in another story. Green, a rotation player in Cleveland last season, signed a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal with Washington. “Getting to the Finals and being part of that was beyond amazing,” he said. “With the experience and seeing what it took, I can bring that here and get everybody on the same page of knowing what it takes and the sacrifices that you have to do to get to that point.”
Point guard John Wall said the Wizards have had a “pretty interesting” summer and feels Howard still has something left in the tank, he told Chris Miller of NBC Sports Washington in a podcast. “Even though [Howard] is older, he’s still an athletic big averaging 16 and 12,” Wall said. “Not only do you get more layups, probably, you get more wide-open threes.”