- As Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. admitted that it was a “disappointing” lottery night for the Wizards, who didn’t move down but had a great chance to land the No. 1 pick after the first three balls were drawn. Unseld remains confident that the team will be able to find a talented player at No. 8. “I can’t really talk in-depth about individuals, but I think there is some talent (in this draft),” Unseld said. “There’s some positional size. There’s some versatility, some wing depth. So, there certainly is going to be a good player there.”
The NBA’s general managers held their annual meeting in Chicago on draft lottery day and the discussions among those GMs about a handful of competition-related issues were “lively,” according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Insider link).
One of the topics the GMs talked about on Tuesday, according to Lowe, was the idea of turning the NBA draft into a two-day event. They also discussed whether the modern game has tilted too far toward offensive production and considered what could be done to help defenses. Additionally, sources tell Lowe that some executives in attendance suggested bringing back escalating fines as a penalty for players who flop.
Much of the general managers’ conversation revolved around the issue of load management, and Lowe hears from sources that there may be more load management-related rules implemented as soon as next season. According to Lowe, some in attendance at the meetings believe the NBA may revisit its guidelines on when teams are permitted to rest players, as well as the penalties for clubs that violate those guidelines.
Here’s more from Lowe, who was in the drawing room for Tuesday night’s lottery:
- Before the fourth and final lottery ball was drawn for the No. 1 pick, the Wizards had six of the 11 available combinations, according to Lowe and other reporters who attended the drawing. The Magic, Pacers, and Trail Blazers were also still alive for the top pick at that point, but it was the Spurs who lucked out and held the winning combination: 14-5-8-2.
- Rival executives are expecting Portland to re-sign Jerami Grant this offseason, according to Lowe, who says he believes the Trail Blazers will also look into renegotiating the protections on the lottery-protected first-round pick they owe to the Bulls. Removing or reducing the protections on that pick would give the Blazers more flexibility to trade future first-rounders.
- The Clippers love having Tyronn Lue as their head coach and are “happy to remind” teams with interest in Lue that he remains under contract, Lowe reports. The Suns are said to have legitimate interest in hiring Lue away from their division rivals, but it sounds like Los Angeles would make that very difficult. As Lowe notes, it’s still unclear whether or not that’s even something Lue would want.
- Executives in Chicago are “buzzing” about what the future holds for the Warriors and Sixers. Based on his conversations, Lowe says there’s a strong level of interest in Golden State forward Jonathan Kuminga around the NBA. Lowe adds that, while the Rockets and James Harden have mutual interest in a reunion, league sources made it clear that Harden’s return to Houston is no lock after the dismissal of Doc Rivers in Philadelphia.
The Wizards have formally interviewed Trajan Langdon for their head of basketball operations vacancy, sources tell Josh Robbins and David Aldridge of The Athletic (Twitter link).
A former first-round pick who spent three seasons in the NBA and several overseas, Langdon has been the Pelicans‘ general manager since 2019. He started his front office career with San Antonio as a scout from 2012-15, had a one-year stop in Cleveland, and was an assistant GM with Brooklyn from 2016-19.
Langdon currently works under Pelicans VP of basketball operations David Griffin. The two have a longstanding work relationship, as Langdon was hired by Griffin when he was running the Cavs’ front office.
The 47-year-old was the first Alaskan to play in the NBA when he was drafted by Cleveland in 1999. Langdon was first identified as a potential candidate by Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today after the Wizards fired president of basketball operations and general manager Tommy Sheppard.
Ava Wallace of The Washington Post reported a couple weeks ago that the Wizards had spoken to Langdon, but cautioned that the team was still in the “information-gathering” stage. Bucks assistant GM Milt Newton was another candidate Wallace mentioned.
The Spurs have won the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.
San Antonio claimed the No. 1 overall pick in Tuesday night’s draft lottery, putting the club in position to select Wembanyama, a 7’5″ French phenom who is widely considered the top NBA prospect since LeBron James.
The top 14 slots for the 2023 draft have officially been set. The lottery order is as follows:
- San Antonio Spurs
- Charlotte Hornets
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Houston Rockets
- Detroit Pistons
- Orlando Magic
- Indiana Pacers
- Washington Wizards
- Utah Jazz
- Dallas Mavericks
- Orlando Magic (from Bulls)
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Toronto Raptors
- New Orleans Pelicans
It’s the third time in franchise history that the Spurs have won a draft lottery and earned the right to add a generational big man to their roster. San Antonio drafted David Robinson with the No. 1 overall pick in 1987 and Tim Duncan with the top pick in 1997.
The Spurs entered the night third in the lottery standings, but had a 14.0% chance at the No. 1 pick, the same odds as Detroit and Houston, the top two teams in the lottery standings.
The Pistons are the biggest loser of the night, slipping all the way out of the top four after finishing the season with the NBA’s worst record at 17-65. It also wasn’t an ideal outcome for the Rockets, who slipped from second to fourth in a draft widely considered to have a consensus top three prospects.
The Hornets, who had a 12.5% chance at the No. 1 pick and a 48.1% chance to end up in the top four, move up two spots to No. 2 and will likely decide between G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson and Alabama wing Brandon Miller, who are viewed as the next-best prospects behind Wembanyama.
Henderson was once considered a lock for the No. 2 spot, but had an up-and-down year in the G League while Miller had a big freshman season for the Crimson Tide.
At No. 3, the Trail Blazers also moved up two spots and are the night’s other big winner — they’ll be in position to draft either Henderson or Miller, whichever one the Hornets pass on. Of course, Portland badly wants to build a roster around Damian Lillard that’s capable of contending sooner rather than later, so it’s possible the team will listen to offers for its lottery pick, but the price would presumably be extremely high.
Outside of the top five, the remaining lottery picks remain unchanged from the pre-lottery order. That means the Mavericks will keep their first-round pick, which would have been sent to the Knicks if it had slipped out of the top 10. Dallas will instead owe New York its 2024 first-rounder with top-10 protection.
The Bulls, meanwhile, would have hung onto their lottery pick if it had moved into the top four, but it will be sent to the Magic since it fell outside of its protected range. That pick was the last asset that Chicago owed to Orlando as part of the 2021 Nikola Vucevic trade.
Tuesday’s lottery results also shook up the order of the second round. Because San Antonio will be picking ahead of Houston in the first round, the Rockets’ second-round pick has moved up from No. 33 to No. 32, which means it will be sent to the Pacers instead of the Celtics.
That’s great news for the Pacers, who move up 18 spots from No. 50 as a result of that lottery outcome and a convoluted set of trade criteria involving multiple second-rounders. Rather than getting Houston’s pick, Boston will receive Portland’s second-rounder at No. 35, while the Thunder – who had been in position to get No. 35, will instead pick at No. 50.
An unlikely run to the Eastern Conference Finals for the Heat has increased the likelihood of Tyler Herro playing again this season. However, he still hasn’t begun to shoot or dribble as he recovers from a fractured right hand, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
After Herro broke his hand in Game 1 of the Heat’s first round series vs. Milwaukee, reports indicated that he likely wouldn’t be able to return unless Miami made the NBA Finals. When he underwent surgery on April 21, the sharpshooter was ruled out for six weeks.
At the time, it seemed safe to conclude Herro’s season was over, but the No. 8 Heat have since won two series, giving him a chance to make it back this spring. Still, as Jackson observes, that six-week timeline would mean Herro will be sidelined until at least Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, so Miami will still need to win a few more games to have any hope of seeing him again this postseason.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Wizards owner Ted Leonsis will be asking the questions when he interviews candidates for the team’s top front office job, but six high-ranking executives around the NBA who spoke to Josh Robbins and David Aldridge of The Athletic said they’d have questions of their own they’d want Leonsis to answer if they met with the Wizards. “The biggest one would be: ‘Are you willing to start over and build from the bottom up?'” one exec said. “‘Can you stomach three to four years of struggle in the win column in order to position the team to win (at) a high level in the long run?'”
- Within a mailbag for The Charlotte Observer, Roderick Boone says he expects the Hornets to re-sign Dennis Smith Jr. in free agency this offseason, referring to the union between Charlotte and the veteran guard as a “perfect marriage.”
- The Magic are working with the City of Orlando on a bid to host the 2027 NBA All-Star Game, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link), who confirms reporting from Richard Bilbao of The Orlando Business Journal. The team last hosted the All-Star Game in 2012.
The Wizards haven’t had a 50-win season since 1978/79, when they lost in the NBA Finals after winning the title the year before. In fact, they’ve only won more than 45 games twice over the lengthy period since then — both in the mid-2010s when John Wall-led teams made the Eastern Conference Semifinals a few times.
Things went about as expected in ’22/23. Washington’s over/under entering the season was 35.5 wins, and the team won exactly 35 for the second consecutive season.
There were some positive developments — Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis had career years, while Corey Kispert turned into a solid rotation player in year two — but they were mostly offset by disappointments in other areas. Bradley Beal was plagued by injuries for the second straight season and lottery pick Johnny Davis spent most of his rookie season in the G League, struggling when he did get NBA minutes.
The Wizards, who finished 22nd in the league in offense and 21st in defense, don’t really have an identity on either end of the court (they were 21st in offense and 25th in defense in ‘21/22).
Where the Wizards go from here is an open question. They don’t have the types of young players teams typically build around, nor the cache of future draft picks (they actually owe a protected first to the Knicks). Getting lucky in the draft lottery would be a good start – the Wizards have the eighth-best odds at landing the No. 1 overall pick and a 28.9% chance at a top-four selection.
The Wizards’ Offseason Plan:
What many league observers think the Wizards should do and what they actually do are often at odds. Maybe that will change when the team hires a new head of basketball operations after firing Tommy Sheppard.
Either way, it’s an important offseason for the Wizards. Kuzma has already said he plans to turn down his $13MM player option to secure a larger payday. Will Porzingis decline his $36MM option as well? Perhaps. There were reportedly “serious” talks regarding an extension a couple months ago, but that was before the front office change. It’s impossible to know how a new regime would feel about that.
Porzingis had an outstanding season, making a positive impact on both sides of the ball. He’s only 27 years old, so he’s theoretically in his prime. He has also missed extended time due to injuries throughout his career. Re-signing him is a risk, but Washington doesn’t have a ready-made replacement on its roster.
If both players decline their options and the Wizards renounce their other free agents and cap holds (except their first-round pick), they’d have about $30MM in cap room to work with. I don’t see which players they could target with that money that would be better than Kuzma and Porzingis. A sign-and-trade involving one (or both) theoretically could work if Washington wants reshuffle the deck.
Former first-round pick Deni Avdija will be eligible for a rookie scale extension as well. He has a good feel for the game and is a solid defender, but his jump shot is very erratic. Trading Rui Hachimura freed up playing time for Avdija, and he played well down the stretch. Still, it’s hard to envision any rush to extend him unless it’s a team-friendly rate.
Perhaps the biggest question facing the Wizards hasn’t changed: Is Beal a star worth building around? There are multiple seasons worth of evidence indicating the answer is no.
The issue is that he’s coming off two injury-riddled seasons and still has four years and more than $200MM left on his contract — his value is arguably at its lowest point in years. Washington would likely get pennies on the dollar in return for the veteran guard unless they find a team that thinks Beal would push it over the hump.
Would Philadelphia be interested in a Beal for Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris trade? Harris’ deal is expiring and Maxey is going to command a significant payday soon, as he’s about to enter the final season of his rookie deal. Is that enough of a return for Beal?
For some inexplicable reason, the Wizards gave Beal a full no-trade clause when he signed his contract last summer, a rarity in the NBA. So even if they find a suitable deal, he’d still have to approve it.
Locking in an expensive long-term core of Beal, Kuzma and Porzingis isn’t going to move the needle toward winning in any meaningful way. They’re all good players individually, but not good enough to be a top-three trio on a serious contender.
There are players with positive value on the roster, though they’re not going to return a haul of assets. Monte Morris and Delon Wright are quality backups that lots of teams would like to have, for example, and they’re entering the final years of their contracts.
There are no easy answers for this team. Owner Ted Leonsis hasn’t shown any appetite for a temporary tank despite the mediocre product of the past handful of years. The foundation is rickety, and the Wizards haven’t had success drafting in the 9-15 range over that span.
I don’t envy the person who takes over the front office of this franchise. Things can change quickly in the NBA, but it’s hard to see how the Wizards get significantly better without getting even worse than they have been lately.
Salary Cap Situation
Guaranteed Salary
Bradley Beal ($46,741,590)- Daniel Gafford ($12,402,000)
- Monte Morris ($9,800,926)
- Delon Wright ($8,195,122)
- Deni Avdija ($6,263,188)
- Johnny Davis ($5,050,800)
- Corey Kispert ($3,722,040)
- Anthony Gill ($1,997,238)
- Isaiah Todd ($1,836,090)
- Xavier Cooks ($1,719,864)
- Jordan Goodwin ($300,000)
- Note: Partial guarantee. Rest of salary noted below.
- Quenton Jackson (two-way)
- Total: $98,028,858
Dead/Retained Salary
- None
Player Options
- Kristaps Porzingis ($36,016,200): Bird rights
- Kyle Kuzma ($13,000,000): Bird rights
- Total: $49,016,200
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Jordan Goodwin ($1,627,896)
- Note: Partial guarantee. Goodwin’s partial guarantee increases to $963,948 if he isn’t waived on or before September 1.
- Total: $1,627,896
Restricted Free Agents
- None
Two-Way Free Agents
Draft Picks
- No. 8 overall ($5,969,400)
- Note: This is only a placeholder until the draft order is determined via the lottery.
- No. 42 overall (no cap hold)
- Note: This pick would move to No. 41 if the Thunder end up with a higher first-round pick than the Bulls via the lottery.
- No. 57 overall (no cap hold)
- Total: $5,969,400
Extension-Eligible Players
- Kristaps Porzingis (veteran)
- Kyle Kuzma (veteran)
- Monte Morris (veteran)
- Isaiah Todd (veteran)
- Deni Avdija (rookie scale)
Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2023/24 season begins.
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Ian Mahinmi ($23,175,077 cap hold): Bird rights
- Kendrick Nunn ($6,825,000 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Taj Gibson ($1,989,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Ty Lawson ($1,989,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Shabazz Napier ($1,989,698 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Tomas Satoransky ($1,989,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Ramon Sessions ($1,989,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Johnathan Williams ($1,774,999 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Cassius Winston ($1,774,999 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Total: $43,498,565
Note: The cap holds for the players in italics remain on the Wizards’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Mid-level exception: $12,220,600
- Bi-annual exception: $4,448,000
- Trade exception: $6,263,188
Note: The Wizards would lose access to the full mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception if their team salary surpasses the tax apron. If the Wizards go under the cap to use room, they’ll lose access to all of these exceptions and will gain access to the room exception.
- If the Wizards were to win Tuesday’s draft lottery and the rights to French phenom Victor Wembanyama, it wouldn’t just change the direction of the franchise — it would alter the entire D.C. sports landscape, according to David Aldridge and Josh Robbins of The Athletic. While Wembanyama wouldn’t necessarily make the Wizards an instant contender, he’d provide much-needed hope for a “depressed fan base,” The Athletic’s duo writes.
- A rival general manager believes Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri is “really, really frustrated,” pointing to Toronto’s disappointing season and Fred VanVleet‘s looming free agency as sources of Ujiri’s supposed discontent, according to Bulpett. “(VanVleet) hasn’t shown him any indication that he wants to stay. So I think he’s really down about that situation,” the GM told Heavy.com. “Maybe it’s because everything’s still so fresh, but there’s a lot they have to get done there. It didn’t surprise anyone that (head coach) Nick (Nurse) moved on.” The GM added that the Wizards, who are in the market for a new head of basketball operations, may pursue Ujiri again this spring.
- The Wizards should seriously consider longtime NBA executive Scott Perry to be their next GM, Jerry Brewer of the Washington Post opines. The current Knicks GM is the type a multidimensional talent evaluator who could give the Wizards an identity, according to Brewer, who says Perry also has the skill set and personality to lead the organization.
- What would the Wizards do if they wound up with the No. 10 pick in the draft for the second consecutive season? Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington explores that question using the RealGM draft simulator. The Wizards ended up with Kentucky point guard Cason Wallace in that simulation, which would fill their biggest need at a great value, Hughes notes.
Analysts at JPMorgan recently issued a report stating that the exponential growth of sports media rights is unsustainable in the long term, according to Mike Ozanian of Forbes, but the NBA remains on track to do extremely well on its next deal. The league’s nine-year, $24 billion agreement with its current partners expires in 2025 and the NBA will reportedly look to double or triple that amount on its next rights contract.
With some regional sports networks around the country struggling to make payments to teams, the NBA’s next media deal may lean more heavily on broadcast television and/or streaming platforms, creating alternatives for teams when their current agreements with RSNs expires, per Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic explores the same topic, citing a source with knowledge of the situation who says the NBA would like to get more games on broadcast television and fewer on cable in its next media rights deal. Vorkunov confirms that NBC has displayed interest in getting the NBA back and adds that several streamers – led by Amazon and Apple – are believed to have interest in broadcasting NBA games.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- After previously breaking down this summer’s free agent market for guards, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report shifts his focus to 2023’s free agent wings and big men. Pincus suggests this year’s crop of wings isn’t especially deep and that most of the market’s top players – such as Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma – are far more likely to stay put than to change teams. Within his story on bigs, Pincus says multiple sources view the Raptors as a “lock” to re-sign Jakob Poeltl.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic shines a spotlight on the minimum-salary players who are making a difference for playoff teams, including Lakers guard Austin Reaves, Suns forward Josh Okogie, and Heat guard Gabe Vincent, among others. Those players will all be free agents this summer and are in position to receive significant raises.
- Lance Blanks, a former NBA player for the Pistons and Timberwolves, died on Wednesday at age 56, per The Detroit News. After retiring as a player, Blanks worked as a scout with the Spurs, then was later hired by the Cavaliers as an assistant general manager and by the Suns as their GM. Most recently, he served in a scouting role for the Clippers. “Lance was a light for all those who knew him,” former Pistons star Joe Dumars said in a statement. “It’s been a privilege to have called him one of my closest friends. I’m eternally grateful for all the support he has shown me throughout the years.” Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News has more on Blanks’ passing.