Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Wizards Rumors

International Notes: Terry, Derrickson, Warriors, Wizards, Perrantes

August 11th, 2022 at 8:47pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Former NBA power forwards Emanuel Terry and Marcus Derrickson have joined the Seoul Samsung Thunders of the Korean Basketball League, writes Dario Skerletic of Sportando.

Terry, who went undrafted out of Lincoln Memorial in 2018, logged time in the G League with the Canton Charge and Sioux Falls Skyforce during the 2018/19 season. He made his NBA debut that year on a 10-day deal with the Suns, which he followed up with a subsequent 10-day contract with the Heat.

Internationally, the 6’9″ big man has played for teams in Turkey, Israel, Serbia, and France. Most recently, he played for the Magic’s Summer League club this year in Las Vegas. During the 2021/22 season, Terry re-joined the Suns by signing a 10-day hardship exception. He didn’t score a point for Phoenix, but grabbed 10 rebounds in 18 minutes.

The 6’7″ Derrickson, meanwhile joined the Warriors on a two-way contract during the 2018/19 season after going undrafted out of Georgetown. He played sparingly with Golden State during his lone year of NBA action, averaging 4.2 PPG in 11 games. Derrickson has suited up for the Hawks’ G League club, the College Park Skyhawks, and the Celtics’ NBAGL affiliate, the Maine Celtics, in the intervening years. He also played for South Korean teams Busan KT Sonicboom and the Goyang Orions.

Here’s more international news:

  • The Wizards and the 2022 title-winning Warriors are set to face off in Japan for two preseason games this fall, per an NBA press release. Golden State will play Washington at the Saitama Super Arena on September 30 and October 2. The press release notes that these will be the 15th and 16th NBA contests played in Japan. The first NBA game ever staged in Japan was a November 2, 1990 regular season matchup between the Suns and Jazz in Tokyo.
  • Former Cavaliers point guard London Perrantes has inked a two-year extension to remain with Israeli club Hapoel Galil Gilboa, according to Dario Skerletic of Sportando. The 6’2″ guard went undrafted out of Virginia in 2017, but joined Cleveland on a two-way deal ahead of his rookie year. In 14 games with the Cavaliers, the 2017 All-ACC Second Teamer logged just 66 total minutes. He has since played for clubs in France and Turkey, in addition to suiting up for the Wizards’ G League club, the Capital City Go-Go, and the Spurs’ NBAGL affiliate, the Austin Spurs. Perrantes first signed on with Hapeol Gilboa Galil in 2021. In 21 games for the team during the 2021/22 season, he averaged 11.0 PPG, 6.5 APG and 3.0 RPG.
  • In case you missed it, former Hawks point guard Cat Barber recently signed on with Ukranian team BC Budivelynk.
Retweet 1 Share 0 Send via email0

Maker Likely To Wind Up In G League

August 10th, 2022 at 6:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • The plan for Makur Maker is to play with the Wizards’ G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, during the upcoming season,  Ava Wallace of the Washington Post. Maker was signed to an Exhibit 10 contract on Wednesday. The contract will allow Maker to receive a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived during the preseason and then spends at least 60 days as an affiliate player.
Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Wizards Sign Makur Maker To Exhibit 10 Contract

August 10th, 2022 at 10:50am CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have signed center Makur Maker to an Exhibit 10 deal, according to Josh Robbins and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Athletic’s report followed up on a tweet from Edward Smith that showed Maker putting pen to paper.

Maker, the cousin of former NBA lottery pick Thon Maker, attended Howard University during the 2020/21 season, then played for the Sydney Kings in ’21/22, winning an NBL title with the Australian club. He averaged 7.8 PPG and 6.0 RPG on .429/.361/.769 shooting in 16 games (16.8 MPG) for the Kings.

Maker also suited up for the Bulls in last month’s Las Vegas Summer League, registering 7.2 PPG and 3.4 RPG in five contests (12.0 MPG).

Robbins’ report suggests that Maker will likely end up playing for the Capital City Go-Go, the Wizards’ G League team. Maker’s Exhibit 10 contract puts him in line for a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived during the preseason and then spends at least 60 days as an affiliate player for the Go-Go.

Washington has also reportedly agreed to Exhibit 10 deals with undrafted rookie free agents Quenton Jackson and Davion Mintz.

Retweet 8 Share 0 Send via email0

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Surenkamp, Herro

August 9th, 2022 at 3:47pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Wizards were among the worst three-point shooting clubs in the NBA in 2021/22, ranking dead last in attempts, 26th in makes, and 23rd in conversion rate. Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington examines to what extent the team may have addressed its long-range woes via its summer personnel moves, and how reasonable it is to expect incumbent players to boost their output going forward.

New additions Monte Morris and Will Barton are both solid three-point shooters on volume. Hughes speculates that development from young former lottery selections Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija could help the Wizards in 2022/23. Second-year small forward Corey Kispert nailed 38.6% of his long-range looks following the All-Star break last season following a slow start. Should that trend continue, the 6’7″ wing could help improve Washington’s collective triple tally.

Hughes notes that star shooting guard Bradley Beal slumped during an injury-plagued season last year, connecting on a career-low 30% of his 5.3 attempts from deep. Across 51 games split between the Mavericks and Wizards, sharpshooting center Kristaps Porzingis also had a career-worst three-point conversion rate of 31%. If either former All-Star can inch closer to his prior three-point level, the team would benefit.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

  • The Hornets have a familiar face – Jordan Surenkamp – sticking around for a second season as the head coach for their NBA G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, per Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “From an organizational standpoint, I’m very clear understanding the goals that the organization has for Greensboro,” Surenkamp said. “I’ve developed really strong relationships with the front office even going back to my days as video coordinator. So the lines of communication, clarity, all of that is there.”
  • Assuming the Heat are unwilling to part with All-Defensive center Bam Adebayo, 2022 Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro could be the most appealing piece the team considers movable, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. All-Stars Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell, plus big men like Myles Turner, John Collins, Harrison Barnes and Jae Crowder, are still among Miami’s potential trade targets.
  • In case you missed it, JD Shaw discussed the Heat‘s 2022/23 season prospects in a recent Community Shootaround.
Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Schedule Not Expected For At Least Another Week

August 6th, 2022 at 8:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

Everyone eagerly anticipating the release of the schedule for the 2022/23 season will have to wait a little longer, according to NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link). Sources tell Stein that the schedule isn’t expected to be revealed until after next week, which puts the date sometime in mid-August.

The league typically releases its schedule during the second week of August, although that has been affected over the past two years by shortened offseasons caused by the pandemic. Last year’s schedule was announced on August 20.

Possible trades involving Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell may be slowing the process this summer as the schedule makers wait to see if any of those situations get resolved before locking in prime TV dates.

A few things are known about the upcoming season, including league-wide media days on September 26, followed by the start of training camps a day later. The Pistons and Bulls will travel to France for the January 19 NBA Paris Game, according to the league’s website, and All-Star Weekend is set for February 17-19 in Salt Lake City.

The preseason schedule is virtually set and will begin with the defending champion Warriors facing the Wizards in Tokyo for a pair of games September 30 and October 2. The Raptors and Jazz will meet October 2 in Edmonton, the Bucks and Hawks will square off October 6 and 8 in Abu Dhabi, and the Raptors and Celtics will play Oct. 15 in Montreal.

Based on past schedules, the 2022/23 regular season will likely tip off on October 18.

Retweet 10 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Teams With Open Two-Way Contract Slots

August 5th, 2022 at 2:31pm CST by Luke Adams

A total of 18 NBA teams currently have both of their two-way contract slots filled, as our tracker shows.

That doesn’t mean those players will be locked into those slots for the rest of the 2022/23 season, or even until opening night, since two-way deals are low-cost contracts that don’t count against the salary cap, making them easy to replace. But it means those spots are unavailable for the time being.

That leaves 12 teams with at least one two-way slot available. Those teams are as follows:

  • Atlanta Hawks
  • Brooklyn Nets
  • Charlotte Hornets
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Houston Rockets
  • Indiana Pacers
  • Los Angeles Clippers
  • New Orleans Pelicans
  • Portland Trail Blazers
  • San Antonio Spurs
  • Washington Wizards

The Hawks, Hornets, Mavericks, Rockets, Clippers, the Trail Blazers, and Wizards have fairly straightforward two-way situations at the moment — they’ve each filled one slot and have one open, with no reports indicating that any of those teams has reached an agreement on a two-way deal with a free agent or draftee.

The Nets and Bulls also have one two-way spot filled and one open, but each of them has a two-way qualifying offer out to a restricted free agent — David Duke for Brooklyn and Malcolm Hill for Chicago. If those players simply accept their QOs, neither the Nets nor the Bulls will have a two-way opening.

The Spurs also have one two-way player signed and one spot open, though a Shams Charania report last month indicated that undrafted rookie Jordan Hall will sign a two-way contract with San Antonio. If and when that happens, the Spurs will join the list of teams with both of their two-way slots occupied.

The Pacers and Pelicans are currently the only two teams that don’t have a single player on a two-way contract. A Charania report way back in June suggested that Dereon Seabron would sign a two-way deal with New Orleans, but it hasn’t officially happened yet.

The best candidate for a two-way contract with Indiana, meanwhile, could be 48th overall pick Kendall Brown, who is one of a handful of 2022 draftees still unsigned. Even if Seabron and Brown sign two-way pacts, the Pacers and Pelicans would still each have one slot available.

Retweet 7 Share 0 Send via email0

Projecting Wizards' Rotation, Depth Chart, Position Battles

August 4th, 2022 at 1:40pm CST by JD Shaw
Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija Quietly Giving Wizards Hope

July 31st, 2022 at 7:36pm CST by JD Shaw
  • Wizards forwards Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija are quietly giving the team hope, Ethan Fuller of BasketballNews.com writes. Washington finished 35-47 last season and missed the playoffs, but if the club fails to make the postseason again, it’ll still have Hachimura and Avdija for the future. Hachimura (24) was the No. 9 pick in 2019, while Avdija (21) was drafted ninth overall in 2020.
Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Trade Rumors: Mitchell, Barrett, Collins, Heat, Stalled Market

July 29th, 2022 at 6:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Appearing on The Rally (video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that trade talks between the Jazz and Knicks centered on Donovan Mitchell have “stalled out” and the two teams haven’t had contact for about two weeks.

According to Charania, Utah is continuing to discuss moving Mitchell, just not with New York. The Jazz have engaged with the Hornets and Wizards recently, Charania adds, but it doesn’t sound like a potential deal is imminent with either of those clubs.

As Charania observes, many around the league still peg the Knicks as the favorites to land the three-time All-Star guard due to their combination of draft capital and young players. However, with the caveat that things can change at any time, it appears as though nothing is happening on that front right now.

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

  • On his Please Don’t Aggregate This podcast (hat tip to HoopsHype), Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report said he continues to hear that the Jazz don’t have much interest in trading for — and paying — Knicks wing RJ Barrett as part of a Mitchell package. Barrett is eligible for a rookie scale extension up until the start of the 2022/23 regular season, and if he’s unable to come to terms on an extension, he’d be a restricted free agent in 2023.
  • Ian Begley of SNY.tv pushes back on the notion that the Jazz aren’t interested in Barrett, noting his report earlier this month that Utah actually initiated talks with New York with Barrett as part of the return package. Sources tell Begley the Jazz were trying to project what Barrett’s extension value might be at the time of those early discussions, which is only natural. It’s worth pointing out that these two reports aren’t mutually exclusive — the Jazz may indeed have interest in Barrett, but perhaps got a sense of what he’s looking for in an extension and then decided they didn’t want to pay him a large contract in the future. For what it’s worth, Begley says he would refuse to put Barrett in a possible Mitchell deal if he were the Knicks, as he believes that he’s worth more than extra first-round picks.
  • On the latest Lowe Post podcast, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said he doesn’t believe the Heat ever seriously pursued Hawks big man John Collins, but wonders if they might revisit that possibility before the season starts. “There has been some Miami, John Collins chatter,” Lowe said, per RealGM. “It’s old. It might be months old. I don’t think it was ever really serious at all. They might revisit that.”
  • Fred Katz of The Athletic suggests that the return the Jazz received from the Timberwolves for Rudy Gobert may have stalled the trade market for stars like Mitchell and Kevin Durant. According to Katz, the Jazz are seeking a bigger package for Mitchell than they received for Gobert, and the Nets are certainly looking for a massive haul for Durant. That might be having a trickle-down effect not only on the teams that are interested in the two stars, but other teams who could be looking to make lesser deals, Katz writes.
Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Analyzing Strengths And Weaknesses Of Roster

July 28th, 2022 at 4:06pm CST by Rory Maher
Retweet 1 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts