Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Max Contract For Noah Unlikely; Beal Won't Play In Olympics

June 25th, 2016 at 9:00am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Wizards have interest in adding Joakim Noah in free agency and it was reported on Friday that the team may be willing to offer Noah a maximum-salary contract. However, a league source tells J.Michael of Comcast Sportsnet (Twitter links) that the team will not be offering him the max, calling the rumor “absolutely ridiculous.”

Bradley Beal will not participate in the Olympic games this summer, as he explains on his Twitter Feed. Beal only appeared in 55 games for the Wizards this past season due to an injury to his right fibula.

Wizards To Sign Sheldon McClellan

June 24th, 2016 at 3:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Shortly after the completion of Thursday night’s draft, the Wizards struck a deal to sign former University of Miami shooting guard Sheldon McClellan, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter). Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com reports (via Twitter) that McClellan’s deal with the Wizards will be partially guaranteed, adding that the 23-year-old turned down teams that wanted to draft-and-stash him with a second-round pick.

McClellan wasn’t the only undrafted prospect to reach a deal with the Wizards. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter) that Texas A&M’s Danuel House agreed to a deal with Washington, while Aldridge tweets that the team will sign former Arizona center Kaleb Tarczewski. Finally, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post says (via Twitter) that Villanova’s Daniel Ochefu will sign with the Wizards.

While McClellan has some guaranteed money in his contract, the terms of the other deals aren’t known, so it’s not entirely clear whether Washington will bring all those players to camp in the fall, or if they’ll just play for the Wizards in Summer League games next month.

As for McClellan, he ranked 60th on Jonathan Givony’s big board at DraftExpress.com. He’s coming off a senior season in which he averaged 16.3 points per game and made 40.6% of his three-pointers for the Hurricanes.

Latest On Joakim Noah

June 24th, 2016 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards are expected to make a major push to sign Joakim Noah in free agency next month, sources tell Mitch Lawrence of The Sporting News. Washington’s interest in Noah was reported earlier this week.

In addition to the Wizards, at least three other teams – the Knicks, Timberwolves, and Bucks – are prepared to make offers to Noah, who is coming off an injury-shortened season, having undergone shoulder surgery earlier in the year. The Warriors are also believed to have Noah on their list of free agent targets.

One team apparently not viewed as a serious contender to sign Noah is his current team — the Bulls. An earlier report indicated that the veteran big man may want to leave Chicago, and Lawrence hears that Noah is indeed ready to move on.

Lawrence also suggests that the Wizards may be willing to offer Noah a maximum-salary contract, though that seems awfully hard to believe, given the veteran’s age, his health issues, and his modest production over the last couple seasons. J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com (Twitter link), who thinks Washington may pursue Noah, is skeptical that the club would offer him the max, as is Ben Standig of CSNMidAtlantic.com.

With the salary cap on the rise, we’ve been bracing for months for a crazy free agent period, with salaries that exceed what we would have expected. But a four-year max contract for Noah would start at $26MM+, and wouldn’t expire until he’s 35 years old. I could potentially imagine the Wizards being willing to do a maximum-salary deal for one or two years, if they’re unable to land any other top free agent targets, but even that would be a bit of a shock.

Still, according to Lawrence, multiple NBA general managers believe Noah could draw more interest than some other top big men on the market, and at least one GM thinks the longtime Bull will be very well-compensated as long as his shoulder isn’t a concern. “If teams are convinced Noah is healthy, he will get a max deal, and Washington is panicking because Nene is done and they didn’t make the playoffs last season,” the GM tells Lawrence. “They’ll overpay for Noah — they always do.”

As the Wizards prepare for free agency, they’re also reportedly ready to put a max offer on the table for Bradley Beal.

Eastern Notes: Bulls, Butler, Jack, Wizards

June 24th, 2016 at 12:31am CST by Luke Adams

Bulls general manager Gar Forman denies that the team made an effort to trade shooting guard Jimmy Butler, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. “We like Jimmy Butler,” the GM said. “We didn’t shop Jimmy Butler.” Forman admits that teams called to inquire about Butler’s availability, but says Chicago “never made a single call” and called some of the trade speculation “comical,” prompting Friedell to observe that he can’t recall ever seeing the GM publicly deny a trade rumor so forcefully. Still, Forman did acknowledge that the Bulls liked Kris Dunn and had talks about acquiring him, per K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune (Twitter link).

Here are several more post-draft updates from out of the Eastern Conference:

Asked tonight about Jarrett Jack‘s $6.3MM team option, Nets general manager Sean Marks said the team is still undecided on it, per Andy Vasquez of The Record (via Twitter). Brooklyn has until next Thursday to make its decision on the veteran point guard.
The Wizards had some interest in buying a pick in the second round of the draft, but by the time it reached that point, the players they would have been targeting were off the board, per GM Ernie Grunfeld (Twitter link via J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com).
Three players who slid down the draft board had a chance to be selected much earlier, tweets ESPN’s Chad Ford. According to Ford, the Raptors gave serious consideration to Kentucky center Skal Labissiere at No. 9, and the Bucks talked about Michigan State big man Deyonta Davis and Washington point guard Dejounte Murray with the 10th pick. Of course, Toronto couldn’t have been overly high on Labissiere, considering the club passed on him again at No. 27.
The Hawks added a pair of wing players in the first round of Thursday’s draft, grabbing Taurean Prince at No. 12 and DeAndre’ Bembry at No. 21. Nonetheless, free-agent-to-be Kent Bazemore continues to be a priority, according to Hawks GM Wes Wilcox, who said after the draft that Bazemore “is a huge part of what we do.” Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the details and the quotes from Wilcox.

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

Wizards Interested In Joakim Noah

June 22nd, 2016 at 12:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Add the Wizards to the list of teams with interest in Joakim Noah, says Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). Noah, who may leave the Bulls and has said he’s looking forward to free agency, is also expected to receive interest from the Timberwolves.

Offseason Outlook: Washington Wizards

June 20th, 2016 at 8:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Hoops Rumors is looking ahead to offseason moves for all 30 teams. We’ll examine free agency, the draft, trades and other key storylines for each franchise as the summer approaches.

State Of The Franchise

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The Wizards never expected to be spectators at playoff time. Coming off back-to-back postseason appearances and with a strong foundation built around an elite backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal, Washington saw itself as a team on the rise in the Eastern Conference. But that rise hit a brick wall in an injury-filled 41-41 season that has transitioned into an offseason of uncertainty.

The question marks start with Beal, a restricted free agent who was limited to a career-low 55 games this season. Beyond deciding on whether to bring back their talented shooting guard, the Wizards have to quickly rebuild a rapidly aging roster to compete with a slew of young challengers in the East.

Coaching Change

The first casualty of this non-playoff season was head coach Randy Wittman, who was fired and replaced by former Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks. Wittman alienated center Marcin Gortat with public comments about his rebounding and had a deteriorating relationship with other players, so his fate was sealed once the Wizards missed the playoffs.

Brooks oversaw the Thunder as they developed into one of the top teams in the West and will bring a welcome change to the Washington locker room. He had a 338-207 record in seven seasons with OKC.

Bring Back Beal?

A recent report from Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post says the Wizards are planning to offer the 22-year-old a maximum contract when free agency begins next month. That contract would start at approximately $22MM per season and would run for five years. Beal set himself up for the massive payday when he and the Wizards mutually agreed in November not to work out an extension.

Beal was Washington’s second-leading scorer this season at 17.4 points per game and has a career scoring average of 16.0. Under normal circumstances, a max deal for a player of that caliber would be an easy decision, but Beal carries a long-term injury risk that has to make the Wizards think twice. He was placed on a minutes restriction in December when doctors discovered “the beginnings of a stress reaction” in his lower right fibula. Beal started just 35 games this season and has only once played in more than 63 in a season.

But the Wizards seem to have little choice about making a max offer if they want to keep Beal. He recently told Castillo that he considers himself a maximum-salary player and that he plans to seek such a deal from another organization if the Wizards don’t agree. “If Washington can’t meet that requirement then I may be thinking elsewhere,” Beal said. “I’m pretty sure that they probably won’t [let me go].”

No Nene?

Washington’s other major free agency decision involves veteran power forward Nene, who made $13MM this year. A calf strain hampered the 33-year-old at the start of the season, but he improved as the season progressed. Still, Nene started just 11 games and saw his playing time dip below 20 minutes per night. As a result, he averaged less than 10 points per game for the first time in eight years and fewer than five rebounds per contest for the first time in his career.

Nene recently indicated that he’s not considering retirement. He has a solid relationship with Brooks, who started as an assistant coach in Denver when Nene played there. If he returns to Washington, it will be likely be in a reserve role at a deeply discounted price.

Where Are All The Big Guys?

Free agency and non-guaranteed contracts have left Gortat and Markieff Morris as the only big men who will definitely be on Washington’s roster next season. Alan Anderson and J.J. Hickson are both free agents, while Drew Gooden‘s $3.6MM salary is not guaranteed. The need to add size will loom over all of Washington’s trade and free agency decisions.

Free Agent Targets

Washington’s dream scenario is for Kevin Durant to decide he wants to return home to the D.C. area. If that happens, the Wizards can team the former MVP with Wall and Beal to form a new Big Three that would become an immediate title contender.

Even if they don’t land Durant, the Wizards are positioned to make an impact on the free agent market. With only five players holding guaranteed contracts and a little more than $50MM committed against a $94MM salary cap, Washington is in position to offer two maximum deals. Al Horford would be a nice addition to help fill the void up front, while either Harrison Barnes or Nicolas Batum could be a long-term answer at small forward.

Filling Out The Roster

With so many roster openings, the Wizards might use some of that cap space to rebuild their bench. Jared Dudley, Ramon Sessions and Garrett Temple are free agents and are all 30 years old. Washington needs reliable backups to Wall and Beal, so Brandon Jennings, Arron Afflalo or Gerald Henderson might be in the mix. Other names to watch include Eric Gordon, O.J. Mayo, Seth Curry and maybe even Ty Lawson.

Barring a late trade, no help will be coming through the draft. Washington sent its first-round pick to Phoenix in the February deal that brought back Morris, and its second-round pick belongs to Atlanta from a 2015 trade.

Final Take

This is an extremely important offseason in defining the Wizards for the remainder of the decade, and a wide range of outcomes are possible. Landing Durant would be like winning the lottery and make Washington an instant challenger to Cleveland for Eastern Conference supremacy. The nightmare scenario would be losing out on all the top free agents, re-signing Beal to a max contract and watching him struggle with leg problems for the next five years.

GM Ernie Grunfeld was spared when Wittman was dismissed after the season ended. If he wants to ensure a long-term future in Washington, Grunfeld is going to need to make some really shrewd decisions this summer.

Guaranteed Salary

John Wall ($16,957,900)
Marcin Gortat ($12,000,000)
Markieff Morris ($7,400,000)
Otto Porter ($5,893,981)
Kelly Oubre ($2,006,640)
(Martell Webster $833,334) — Salary remaining from release via stretch provision
Total: $45,091,855

Player Options

None

Team Options

None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Drew Gooden ($3,547,000)
Jarell Eddie ($980,431)
Total: $4,527,431

Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)

Bradley Beal ($7,471,412/$14,236,685)
Totals: $7,471,412/$14,236,685

Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)

Nene ($19,500,000)
Jared Dudley ($8,312,500)
Alan Anderson ($4,800,000)
Ramon Sessions ($2,821,605)
J.J. Hickson ($980,431)
Garrett Temple ($980,431)
Marcus Thornton ($980,431)
Total: $38,375,398

Other Cap Holds

Will Bynum ($980,431)
Al Harrington ($980,431)
Total: $1,960,862

Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

Unsigned Draft Picks: Southeast Division

June 18th, 2016 at 3:52pm CST by Eddie Scarito

As the 2016 NBA draft rapidly approaches the term draft-and-stash will be mentioned quite often in regard to international players and late second-rounders. While some of these athletes will eventually sign with an NBA team, it seems like the majority of them stay overseas and never make it to the league. Those players in the latter category aren’t without value as they become trade assets for the teams holding their rights.

While many players fail to work out the way teams expect them to, they can at least become tradeable assets for teams that don’t want to part with a future second-round pick in a deal. Each team must give up something in a trade, which is why many swaps include top-55 protected second-round picks. Older draft rights held players who clearly will never come over to the NBA are essentially the same as flipping those heavily protected second-rounders, for all intents and purposes.

Listed below are the current unsigned draftees for the teams of the Southeast Division:

Atlanta Hawks

Dimitrios Agravanis — Selected No. 59 overall in 2015.
Augusto Binelli — Selected No. 40 overall in 1986.
Alain Digbeu — Selected No. 49 overall in 1997.
Marcus Eriksson — Selected No. 50 overall in 2015.
Sergey Gladyr — Selected No. 49 overall in 2009.

Charlotte Hornets

None

Miami Heat

Roberto Duenas — Selected No. 58 overall in 1997.
George Banks — Selected No. 46 overall in 1995.

Orlando Magic

Fran Vazquez — Selected No. 11 overall in 2005.
Tyler Harvey — Selected No. 51 overall in 2015.
Janis Timma — Selected No. 60 overall in 2013.
Ramon Van De Hare — Selected No. 52 overall in 2003.
Rashard Griffith — Selected No. 38 overall in 1995.

Washington Wizards

Aaron White — Selected No. 49 overall in 2015.
Tomas Satoransky — Selected No. 32 overall in 2012.

Ford: Wizards Got Good Value In Morris Trade

June 17th, 2016 at 12:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

ESPN draft guru Chad Ford believes the Wizards made the right move in dealing away the No. 13 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft for mercurial forward Markieff Morris. Speaking on ESPN 980’s “Inside the Locker Room” with Brian Mitchell and Scott Jackson, Ford said, “You look at [everything] and probably say the Wizards made the right call here in that they got more value [with Morris] than they would have gotten with the 13th pick.” Ford noted that after the presumptive top two of Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram the quality of players drops off significantly in the second-tier, adding, “I think all of those guys are solid players. They’ll probably be starters in the league and make a positive contribution. … Typically, you’re still drafting high-level starters in the 5-7 range. Instead I think you’re probably drafting average starters.”

Wizards Notes: Coaching Staff, Durant, Workouts

June 16th, 2016 at 2:06pm CST by Luke Adams

New Wizards head coach Scott Brooks is in the process of putting together his first coaching staff in Washington, and ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter link) has an update on some of Brooks’ targets. In addition to confirming the Wizards’ interest in Tony Brown, with whom the team is reportedly finalizing a deal, Stein reports that Brooks is targeting Chad Iske and Sidney Lowe for his bench.

Iske, a former Kings assistant who wasn’t retained when Dave Joerger took over in Sacramento last month, has also drawn interest from Memphis. As for Lowe, he most recently served as an assistant in Minnesota — before that, he was an assistant in Utah and a head coach at North Carolina State.

Here’s more out of D.C.:

Don’t count Jared Dudley among those who expect to see Kevin Durant return home and sign with the Wizards this summer. Dudley, a free-agent-to-be who spent the 2015/16 season in Washington, told Kevin Sheehan on ESPN 980 that he doesn’t envision Durant leaving the Thunder for the Wizards. “I realistically don’t,” Dudley said, per Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post. “I hope for the fans they do, because he’s from there, and he would bring such excitement. They’d be right behind Cleveland, right there with them to be able to contend. I don’t see it though.”
More from Dudley on why he doesn’t expect superstar free agents like Durant to land in Washington this offseason: “It’s the system the NBA built. In general, no star player’s leaving to go to another team. … The system’s built for these guys to stay. Guys like Kevin Durant, Al Horford — the Wizards most likely will be going after these players, as they should. Are they really going to leave that money on the table?”
The Wizards are bringing in prospects D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Georgetown), James Webb III (Boise State), Tyler Harris (Auburn), and James Robinson (Pittsburgh) in for a pre-draft workout today, league sources tell Michael Scott of Sheridan Hoops (Twitter link).
The Wizards are also keeping their eye on former Seton Hall and UConn guard Sterling Gibbs, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, who tweets that Washington is looking at Gibbs for a second time on Monday.
We recently took a closer look at the Wizards’ salary cap situation for the coming offseason.

Bryn Forbes Worked Out For Wizards

June 15th, 2016 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

According to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link), Michigan State guard Bryn Forbes has also been busy in recent weeks, having worked out for the Celtics, Magic, Hawks, Bulls, Wizards, and Lakers in addition to four more teams that were previously reported. Forbes still has workouts with the Pistons and Spurs on his schedule.