5:07pm: The Wizards announce that they’ve also waived Childress and Mensah-Bonsu in addition to Silas (Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today via Twitter). The roster now stands at 15.
4:46pm: While the news has yet to be confirmed by the team, Xavier Silas has been released by the Wizards, according to an update on his Instagram account. J. Michael of CSNWashington.com reported last night that Washington was expected to cut Silas, Josh Childress, and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, so perhaps when the team makes an official announcement, it’ll include word on all three players.
Silas, 25, went undrafted out of Northern Illinois in 2011 after averaging 22.3 PPG in his senior year. Since then, he has had played overseas and in the D-League, and briefly saw NBA action for the Sixers during the 2011/12 season, appearing in two games for Philadelphia. As Silas noted in his Instagram update and as Michael Lee of the Washington Post detailed, the 6’5″ guard was impressive in his brief preseason audition with the Wizards, scoring 12 points in just 10 minutes.
Releasing Silas reduces Washington’s roster count to 17, while cutting Childress and Mensah-Bonsu as well would ensure that the team’s roster is regular-season-ready.