- Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma is firmly entrenched as a starter in Washington after coming off the bench for the Lakers the past two seasons, notes Jackson Filyo of NBA.com. Kuzma, who narrowly missed his first career triple-double this week, said he benefited from the lessons he learned in L.A. “I credit a lot of my success this season to the last two years, taking a seat and watching some great players play basketball and learning from them,” Kuzma said. “I just knew once I got traded, it was a golden opportunity for me to enhance my game and show everything I’ve learned and what I’m capable of with opportunity. I’m just showing that right now.”
The Jazz got some very good news on Friday, as center Rudy Gobert has exited the league’s health and safety protocols, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. Utah’s defense has fallen apart without Gobert patrolling the middle. The Jazz’s defensive rating has ballooned to 120.8 in the five games he’s missed and they only won one of those contests. Forward Rudy Gay has also exited the protocols, Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. Utah plays its next game on Sunday.
We have more COVID-related news:
- According to the league’s injury report for this evening’s games, Spurs forward Doug McDermott is no longer in the protocols. McDermott has not played since New Year’s Eve.
- Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. has entered the protocols, according to a team press release. Pat Delany will assume acting head coaching duties for Saturday’s game against Portland.
- Hornets big man Kai Jones has cleared the protocols and was eligible to play on Friday, the team tweets.
- Players who remain unvaccinated or who are eligible for a booster shot will remain under daily surveillance and game day testing through February 17, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Those who are currently ineligible for a booster due to having been more recently vaccinated won’t be under those restrictions, NBA Communications tweets. Those restrictions also won’t apply to league staff members, since they are all fully vaccinated.
- Wizards guard Spencer Dinwiddie has been cleared to play in both ends of back-to-backs after not doing so during the first half, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Dinwiddie, coming off an ACL tear in 2020/21, played on both Tuesday and Wednesday for Washington.
The maximum-salary contract extension the Wizards offered to Bradley Beal in October remains on the table and will stay there all season long, general manager Tommy Sheppard told Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Beal may end up opting for free agency – where he could earn a longer, more lucrative deal with Washington or explore other destinations – but Sheppard wants to make sure the All-Star guard knows the extension is still an option.
“There’s no reason to take it off. It stands all year. He can sign it all season,” Sheppard said. “I’ve never been anything but transparent. We delivered it the first day that it was available. That’s out of respect to him. He’s an All-NBA player, and we expect him to be an All-Star again this year, and I think he’ll be there at the end for All-NBA. That’s a matter of respect. I think for him he’s going to do what’s very best in his interest. And for the franchise, it’s the same.”
With no guarantee that Beal will eventually sign a new contract, Robbins wondered if the Wizards might have to at least consider the possibility of trading him by the February 10 deadline rather than risk losing him for nothing. However, that doesn’t appear to be a path Sheppard is exploring. The general manager told Robbins that the club remains focused on keeping and building around Beal and believes the 28-year-old remains committed to that plan too.
“I understand the question,” Sheppard said. “I can only keep coming back to the same things I say over and over again: We have constant dialogue. And I’ve been very transparent. He’s been very transparent. We want the same things. We want this to work, and I see every reason to believe we’ll keep moving forward.”
Here are a few more highlights from Sheppard’s conversation with Robbins:
- Sheppard isn’t concerned about the fact that the Wizards have been outscored by 5.5 points per 100 possessions when Beal and Spencer Dinwiddie share the court. He preached patience and still believes the two guards complement each other well. “Last I checked, Spencer’s got a three-year deal, not a 40-game deal,” Sheppard said. “It takes time for things to kind of come together. They’ve still got to figure out each other. … Forty games isn’t enough to say this is working or not working. We’ve seen it when it can really work. We’ve seen that they can play well.”
- Asked about Washington’s up-and-down performance so far this season, Sheppard pointed out that injuries and the COVID-19 protocols have created an “incomplete picture” of the team’s potential. The Wizards’ GM referred to Rui Hachimura and Thomas Bryant as two of “our probably top six guys or seven guys” and said he’s looking forward to seeing what they bring to the current group.
- Sheppard, who has spoken in the past about the Wizards making steady improvements as they build around Beal, believes they’re still headed in the right direction. “I think that our roster has some balance,” Sheppard said, referring to the club’s mix of youngsters and veterans. “I think our contracts are balanced-out now. I think that gives you an opportunity, especially around the deadline, to look and see if there’s a way to improve your team. Certainly in the offseason, it gives us opportunities to do things. So I’m really excited with where we’re at.”
Wizards guard Bradley Beal re-entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Tuesday, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. It’s Beal’s second protocol-related absence within the last month — he missed three games between December 23-28 due to contact tracing, Robbins notes.
Unlike last season, when any player determined to be a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19 was placed in the protocols, those guidelines only apply to unvaccinated players this season. Beal began the season unvaccinated, but confirmed when he returned in late December that he had recently received the vaccine. That could mean his absence this time around isn’t related to contact tracing, and that he returned a positive or inconclusive test.
The Wizards did get one piece of good news on Tuesday afternoon, as forward Anthony Gill exited the protocols, per Robbins (Twitter link). That means Beal is currently the only Washington player affected.
Here are more protocol-related updates from around the NBA:
- The Pacers announced on Tuesday that Caris LeVert and Goga Bitadze have exited the health and safety protocols, as James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star writes. Both players have a chance to be available on Wednesday vs. Boston. They’re listed as questionable for now.
- The Celtics no longer have any players in the COVID-19 protocols, as guard Payton Pritchard has been cleared, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter link).
- Spurs forward Thaddeus Young is no longer in the health and safety protocols, tweets Paul Garcia of Project Spurs. However, San Antonio still has five players in the protocols, tied with Utah for the highest current total in the league.
- Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey and forward Paul Reed aren’t listed on the team’s latest injury report, indicating that they’ve both cleared the protocols (Twitter links via Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia).
- Of approximately 2,400 “tier 1” staffers working for NBA teams, there have been more than 500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 this season, creating major challenges for franchises, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN. “You’re basically taking an assembly of people who help the athletes and taking a few people off the line every few days for a week or more,” one athletic training official told ESPN. “It has interfered significantly with the regular protocols and people being given responsibilities/duties they don’t normally have or are even qualified to do in order to get the job done. It’s been the Wild Wild West.”
Wizards big man Montrezl Harrell and swingman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a physical altercation during halftime of Tuesday’s win over Oklahoma City, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic.
According to Charania, Harrell was upset that Caldwell-Pope didn’t pass him the ball on a play at the end of the first half, and the two teammates began jawing at one another on their way to the locker room. The confrontation eventually escalated to the point where they took swings at each other (neither player connected) and had to be separated by teammates, Charania adds.
Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington shared video of the play that seemingly led to the incident.
Harrell and Caldwell-Pope played together in Los Angeles last season before being traded by the Lakers to the Wizards in the Russell Westbrook blockbuster over the summer.
The two veterans have had key roles on a 21-20 Washington team that remains firmly in the playoff mix in the Eastern Conference. Harrell is averaging 14.4 PPG and 7.3 RPG in 34 games (25.4 MPG), while Caldwell-Pope has put up 11.6 PPG and a .389 3PT% in 38 appearances (29.7 MPG).
I’d expect the Wizards to downplay Tuesday’s altercation and look to put it behind them. Still, it’s worth noting – with the trade deadline just four weeks away – that both Harrell and KCP have pretty team-friendly contracts and their names could come up in trade discussions if Washington looks to upgrade its roster in the coming weeks. Harrell is on an expiring $9.7MM salary, while Caldwell-Pope is making $13MM this season and has a partial guarantee (about $5MM) on his $14MM salary for 2022/23.
Wizards center Thomas Bryant appears likely to suit up for Washington on Wednesday against the Magic, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. said today (Twitter link via Ava Wallace of the Washington Post).
This will be the first game back on the hardwood for Bryant in just over a year. The 6’10” big man tore the ACL in his left knee in a game against the Heat on January 9, 2021.
Unseld previously indicated that Bryant, still just 24, had cleared the league’s COVID-19 protocols and would take a bench role during his initial games back with the club.
Prior to the injury, Bryant averaged 14.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.5 APG and 0.8 BPG in ten games with the Wizards during the 2020/21 season, all starts. Bryant is in the final season of a three-year, $25MM contract extension he signed with the team in the 2019 offseason.
At 20-20, the Wizards currently occupy the No. 9 seed in the crowded Eastern Conference. A return for Bryant should help shore up their interior defense. For now, Bryant will play behind springy young starting center Daniel Gafford.
- Rui Hachimura has finally returned to action after an extended personal absence. The Wizards forward wouldn’t go into detail about his absence but said he’s happy to be back in uniform, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “I’ve been waiting for this moment,” he said. “I had to take a little time off, but I’m so happy to be back on the court and playing with these guys. I missed the feeling,”
The Knicks and Wizards are among the many teams in pursuit of Pistons forward Jerami Grant, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Charania also reiterates that the Trail Blazers and Lakers have interest in Grant, which he first stated last month when he reported that Detroit was open to the idea of moving the 27-year-old.
Grant has been tasked with more offensive responsibilities in Detroit and has responded by averaging 21.6 PPG in 78 games (33.7 MPG) across his two seasons with the organization. Of course, many teams eyeing him as a trade target may value his defensive ability and versatility even more highly than his contributions on offense.
The Knicks and Wizards are two teams that could use a solid frontcourt defender like Grant. New York ranks 19th in defensive efficiency this season after placing fourth in 2020/21. Washington has been ever worse this season, coming in at 23rd in defensive efficiency.
Attaching draft assets to Knicks swingman Evan Fournier ($17.1MM) or Wizards forward Davis Bertans ($16MM) would perhaps be the most logical way for the two Eastern clubs to construct offers that would match Grant’s $20MM salary. However, both teams have the flexibility to include other players in their respective offers if Detroit doesn’t want to take on long-term money — Bertans and Fournier are both owed guaranteed salaries through 2024.
- Wizards star Bradley Beal isn’t concerned by not receiving many All-Star votes to date, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes. Beal wasn’t included in the top-10 rankings of the NBA’s first fan voting returns last week. “Yeah, I’ve seen it,” Beal said. “You know me, it’s the same every year or every other year. I control what I can control, I don’t control the fan voting or anyone that votes for that matter.”