- With their roster almost fully healthy, the Wizards understand they have to start producing to prevent a shakeup at the trade deadline, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “It’s tough for you to make decisions without a healthy team, and we’ve got to make up some ground,” Kyle Kuzma said. “We’ve been injured a lot, but we’ve got a chance to rewrite some things. The trade deadline is in six weeks, and everyone in this locker room knows about that.”
- The Wizards announced that guard Delon Wright, who has missed the team’s past 29 games with a hamstring injury, would be back in action on Friday against Sacramento, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). Wright should bolster the Wizards’ defense, which ranks 22nd in the NBA.
The Bucks, Heat and Hawks have been linked to Jae Crowder multiple times and are “widely regarded” as his top suitors, but the Wizards recently made an offer for the veteran forward, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack article (subscription required).
Wizards forward Rui Hachimura, a restricted free agent in the summer who is set to return tonight from an ankle injury, was believed to be part of the trade package, but the Suns declined and are said to be looking for a “certifiable starter” in exchange for Crowder, according to Stein.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst previously identified the Wizards as a potential Crowder suitor and noted that Hachimura could be a trade candidate.
Here are a couple more trade rumors and one note from around the NBA:
- The Hawks have “widened the scope” of their trade talks involving John Collins, sources tell Stein. While that seems to indicate that Atlanta will eventually find a suitable deal for Collins, the size and length of his contract ($102MM over four years), plus his limited role and declining production this season, have made it difficult thus far to find a trade partner for the veteran power forward, says Stein.
- Some people in the Lakers‘ organization are “very intrigued” by Knicks wing Cam Reddish, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. They view him as a youthful reclamation project, which the team has had some success with in the past couple seasons (Malik Monk and Lonnie Walker). Sources tell Woike that the Knicks are looking for a protected first-rounder for the 23-year-old, but that asking price is expected to dip as Reddish is no longer in New York’s rotation. Reddish will be a restricted free agent in the summer if he’s extended a qualifying offer.
- Count Zach Kram of The Ringer among the writers who believe that the Raptors should make moves to reset the roster ahead of the trade deadline. Kram notes that Toronto’s half-court offense has been very poor and the defense has been much worse than expected compared to last season. The Raptors have some very valuable players so they don’t need to do a full tear-down, but it’s evident that things aren’t working with the current group, Kram writes.
After missing more than a month with a bone bruise in his right ankle, Wizards forward Rui Hachimura is expected to play Thursday, tweets Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. The team announced that Hachimura, who has been out of action since November 18, will be available for the game at Utah.
Hachimura was originally diagnosed with ankle soreness, but an MRI revealed the bruise. Head coach Wes Unseld Jr. offered an encouraging progress report on Hachimura last week, saying he had started one-on-one contact work.
Hachimura’s return is welcome news for the Wizards, who had lost 10 straight games before winning Tuesday night in Phoenix. Washington is 12th in the East at 12-20, but the club is starting to get some of its rotation players back after a string of injuries. Bradley Beal returned Sunday after missing two weeks with a hamstring issue, and Delon Wright should be back soon after being sidelined since October 25 with a strained hamstring.
There’s more injury news to pass along:
- Pelicans forward Zion Williamson has been placed in the league’s health and safety protocols and will miss Thursday’s game against the Spurs, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Clark notes that Williamson was able to play 40 minutes Monday, but he wasn’t at practice today. New Orleans also plays on Friday and may be facing an extended stretch without Williamson and Brandon Ingram, whom coach Willie Green has already confirmed will miss both games.
- Sixers coach Doc Rivers told reporters tonight that Tyrese Maxey, who has a broken bone in his left foot, is improving, but there’s still no set timetable for him to return, tweets Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice. “We will see him at some point,” Rivers said. “I just don’t know when.”
- Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins may be targeting Christmas Day to try to return from a right adductor strain, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Wiggins is sitting out tonight’s game at Brooklyn, along with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green.
Hawks guard Trae Young and head coach Nate McMillan both downplayed an alleged confrontation that occurred earlier this month, but there has been chatter that their relationship has gotten worse since then, according to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, who said one league executive referred to the situation in Atlanta as “toxic.”
“When they win, everybody’s happy for a minute,” one source told Bulpett. “But when they lose, it gets messy. Instead of trying to get it figured out, there’s a lot of blame being thrown around.”
According to Bulpett, one opposing coach said that Young and McMillan don’t like each other, and suggested that “other players have issues with Trae” as well.
“There were teams that questioned whether he’d ever be this good because of his size when he was coming out,” a front office source said of Young. “So it’s good to have that kind of fight in you. But at some point, you’d hope he’d realize the effect he can have on his team, both positive and negative. Sometimes you have to take a step back and maybe take a hit to make the whole thing work.”
Meanwhile, although John Collins‘ name has once again come up in trade rumors, sources who spoke to Bulpett pointed to the big man’s contract as a potential roadblock as the Hawks seek a trade partner. He’s still owed $78.5MM across three seasons after this one.
“He’s not a bad player. He’s actually a good player,” a source told Bulpett. “The problem is he’s not worth 23-and-a-half million. There are places he could go where he’d really be helping a team and really be happy, but right now that contract is in the way. We’ll see if anyone’s going to bite or if Atlanta’s going to make it worth another team’s while.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Asked on Tuesday if there’s a chance Delon Wright will return to action for the Wizards on Thursday, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. responded, “I hope so,” tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Wright has been on the shelf for nearly two months, but finally seems on the verge of being reactivated.
- In a story for The Athletic, Robbins and Jovan Buha explore whether it’s realistic to think the Wizards and Lakers could work out a trade that sends Bradley Beal to Los Angeles for Russell Westbrook and draft picks. Robbins is skeptical, but points out that Beal’s no-trade clause will make it challenging for the Wizards to maximize the guard’s value if he ever wants to be dealt, since he could veto deals to unwanted destinations.
- With several Heat regulars unavailable, Victor Oladipo made his first start of the year and played a season-high 34 minutes in Tuesday’s loss to Chicago. As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel relays, head coach Erik Spoelstra made it clear after the game that he doesn’t intend to lean that heavily on Oladipo often as he continues to work his way back to 100%. “I wouldn’t have done this with Vic if it wasn’t clearly communicated with him and with the training staff and if we didn’t have two days after the last game, two days before the next game,” Spoelstra said.
Two NBA executives who spoke to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype believe that if he remains healthy and productive this season, Wizards big man Kristaps Porzingis could be in line for a three- or four-year contract worth about $30MM annually on the open market next summer. Porzingis holds a $36MM player option for 2023/24, but would likely decline that option and accept a modest pay cut next season if it meant securing a lucrative long-term deal.
With Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma both potentially on track for 2023 free agency, the Wizards may have to make some decisions in the coming weeks about their current roster’s ceiling and how committed they are to this core. The team holds Porzingis’ and Kuzma’s Bird rights, but both players would be unrestricted free agents, so Washington wouldn’t be able to fully control the process. If the Wizards are worried about losing Porzingis and/or Kuzma next summer, it would make sense to gauge their value in advance of February’s trade deadline.
According to Scotto, the Wizards believe their roster is more talented than their 12-20 record suggests and are hoping to get an extended look at a fully healthy group before making any decisions about personnel changes.
Here’s more from Scotto:
- The Bulls, Raptors, and Wizards are among the teams being monitored closely by rivals in case they pivot to selling. Multiple clubs, including the Knicks, are keeping a close eye in particular on Bulls guard Zach LaVine, says Scotto. LaVine has reportedly not seen eye-to-eye with the organization this season after signing a five-year, maximum-salary contract in July.
- Multiple NBA executives who spoke to Scotto at this week’s G League Showcase “unanimously” consider Gary Trent Jr. the Raptors‘ most likely trade candidate. Trent is widely expected to turn down his 2023/24 player option (worth $18.8MM) and seek a multiyear deal. Two executives told Scotto they think Trent can get $20MM+ per year as a free agent, and there’s skepticism around the NBA that Toronto will want to retain him at a price exceeding $20MM annually.
- With the Pacers and Spurs still well below the salary floor, multiple executives believe the two clubs will be on the lookout for opportunities to take on unwanted contracts – along with draft compensation – at this season’s deadline, per Scotto.
Wizards forward Deni Avdija credits former teammate Russell Westbrook for mentoring him during his rookie season, as he told Josh Robbins and Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
The current Lakers guard continues to have an impact on Avdija, who is averaging 7.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game for the Wizards this season. “He really took care of me,” Avdija said. “He really cared about my success, and he wanted me to be mentally tough. When he sees me now, every time he sees me, he gives me advice after the game or something that I need to do better, and I love it. He always has a lot of effect (on me) because he was my first veteran that I met when I came to the league.”
- It’s hard to pinpoint a single reason for the Wizards‘ losing streak, which reached 10 games with Sunday’s narrow defeat against the Lakers, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Injuries have been an issue, but the losing continued as Kristaps Porzingis came back Saturday and Bradley Beal returned Sunday.
- Monte Morris was surprised to learn that he had been traded to the Wizards after five years in Denver, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth admits that he went to dinner with Morris and promised him that he wouldn’t be dealt, but Booth said he couldn’t pass up the chance to acquire Kentavious Caldwell-Pope when the opportunity arose. “I was definitely shocked because I heard different things like I wasn’t going nowhere and stuff,” Morris said. “For me, that just showed me you can’t really put all your eggs in one basket nowhere. Ain’t no hard feelings towards him or nobody. I put that personal side behind me the moment they said the trade was done with. It’s just business.”
Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma told The Washington Post earlier this week that he intends to reach free agency in 2023 rather than signing an extension during the season or picking up his player option for 2023/24. In a conversation with Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Kuzma explained in more detail why he doesn’t expect to sign an in-season extension with Washington.
“It’s not a smart business move,” Kuzma said. “The max I can make if I sign right now is $15 (million). If you look at the market, that’s not market price.”
Technically, Kuzma could get a starting salary of $15.6MM on an extension with the Wizards and could earn about $17.5MM annually over four seasons. But that still may end up being below his value on the open market, given his production so far this season. He has averaged 21.3 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 3.5 APG in 29 games (35.1 MPG).
With Kuzma on track to become a free agent and his future in D.C. uncertain, it’s possible the Wizards will consider trading him before this February’s deadline — he has reportedly been drawing interest. The 27-year-old told McMenamin that the Wizards have “made it clear that they value me,” but acknowledged that the NBA is business, adding that “everybody in this league is tradable.”
McMenamin notes that Pacers center Myles Turner spoke openly to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on a podcast about a possible trade to the Lakers and said L.A. should take a “hard look” at it. However, Kuzma said he doesn’t plan to push for a trade to his former team or anywhere else.
“I definitely could (lobby for a trade). But that’s very immature,” Kuzma said. “I’m not a really immature person. I like to do business in a professional way. So, I would never do that.”
Kuzma went on to say that he values the time he spent with the Lakers earlier in this career and still frequently watches his old teammates on television when he can, but he’s not expecting to be dealt back to Los Angeles this season.
“I haven’t heard anything,” Kuzma said when asked by McMenamin about a possible trade. “The Wizards love me. It’s going to be really tough to do. Do the Lakers have anything (to make a deal)?”
Here’s more from Kuzma, who also spoke to Melissa Rohlin of FoxSports.com about his current situation in Washington and his Lakers history:
On why playing behind two superstars (LeBron James and Anthony Davis) in Los Angeles was a “double-edged sword”:
“I believe that it was some of the best things to ever happen to me, you know, getting drafted, being a Laker, having that platform. Having millions and millions of people globally know who you are, that’s a blessing. That’s part of being a Laker. Learning from LeBron, winning a championship — it’s all been great.
“But at the same time, I always look back and wish I would’ve gotten the fairer end of the stick a little bit, just with my role and how much I sacrificed. It’s cool to sacrifice. That’s the only way you win championships, everybody has to sacrifice. But, just getting the fairer end of the stick, I feel like I never really got (that). But everything happens for a reason. I’m here now (in Washington), and I’ve been able to expand my game and flourish.”
On why he feels like he didn’t get the “fair end of the stick” with the Lakers:
“In the position I was in, it was tough being that little bro on the team. One night, you might get 10 shots. The next night, maybe they just need you to rebound. The next night, you might get 15 minutes. The next night, you might get 29 (minutes). You never know. That’s (not getting) the fair end of the stick.
” … When I was in the moment and I was young, (I was) frustrated a lot of nights because, man, I really want this. I really want this. Everybody who knows me knows I’m really competitive. I really love basketball. A lot of nights it bothered me that I never got the chance to do what I’m doing now, play me.”
On why the trade to the Wizards has ultimately been the best thing for his career, despite the team’s struggles:
“I needed this. This move here has been so instrumental in my life, just being more mature. I love basketball, but I love it even more now. I love my craft, I love getting in the gym every single day. Being in the gym, being in this type of situation — seeing how good I can become has made me be really obsessive with trying to improve and better myself.”
Based on the terms of Kyle Kuzma‘s contract with the Wizards, he could sign a veteran extension at any time this season or could pick up his player option for the 2023/24 season to delay his free agency until 2024. However, he’s currently not planning to take either of those paths.
According to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post, Kuzma said in an interview that he doesn’t expect to sign an in-season extension and that he intends to turn down his ’23/24 player option in order to become an unrestricted free agent this coming summer.
Kuzma’s plans don’t come as a major surprise. He’s in the midst of a career year, averaging 21.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game in his first 28 contests (35.0 MPG) with a shooting line of .462/.343/.692. At age 27, he’s still very much in his prime, and his value has never been higher — he could be one of the best players to reach the UFA market in 2023.
Kuzma is currently earning $13MM, which is also what his 2023/24 option is worth. It’s safe to assume he’ll be able to exceed that figure on a new contract. An extension with the Wizards could max out at approximately $70MM over four years, but based on the way he has performed so far this season, it certainly seems possible that Kuzma can top that deal as a free agent too. In other words, it’s in his best interest financially to become a free agent next offseason even if he’s interested in remaining in D.C. long-term.
“Those are just business decisions,” Kuzma said, according to Wallace.
Although Kuzma’s intention to become a free agent doesn’t mean he wants to leave the Wizards, the club will have to proceed cautiously to avoid losing the former first-round pick for nothing when his contract is up.
If president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard and his front office aren’t confident in their ability to retain Kuzma beyond this season, it makes sense to gauge his value on the trade market. Kuzma’s name has already popped up in some trade rumors and will certainly do so again as the February 9 deadline approaches.