Daniel Gafford was the odd man out Saturday night as Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. decided to cut his center rotation from three players to two, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Gafford, who signed a contract extension in October and started the first 45 games of the season, didn’t play at all in the loss to the Grizzlies.
Unseld indicated it might be a long-term plan, as he abandoned the substitution pattern he has been using since Thomas Bryant returned from an ACL injury. Bryant was the starter on Saturday, and all the back-up minutes went to Montrezl Harrell.
“Trying to play the three bigs, it became very choppy. I know the guys didn’t like it, I didn’t necessarily like it,” Unseld said.
The Wizards wanted to see how Bryant, who was their starting center before suffering the injury last season, would perform with the starting unit. Hughes adds that it’s unclear what this means for Gafford moving forward, whether he’ll be out of the rotation for a while or the decisions on playing time will be based on matchups.
There’s more from Washington:
- There’s some speculation that the Wizards are trying to showcase Bryant ahead of a possible trade before the February 10 deadline, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Gafford can’t be traded this season because of the extension, but the team can move Bryant, who has an expiring $8.7MM contract, and Harrell, who has an expiring $9.72MM deal.
- Free agent addition Spencer Dinwiddie indicated after Saturday’s game that his attempts to be a vocal leader weren’t received well in the Wizards’ locker room, Robbins adds in the same story. “You know, it’s an interesting situation. I spoke up a little bit early on (this season). It wasn’t necessarily welcomed,” Dinwiddie said. “And so, like I said, I try to do what’s asked of me. At the end of the day, everybody has a role to play. It’s about being accountable in your role to the best of your ability. That’s really all I’ve got.”
- Unseld understands the perspective of Bradley Beal, who suggested this week that the trade deadline might be a distraction for the Wizards, who have several players with expiring contracts, Hughes writes in a separate story. “I think what he talked about, the trade deadline, all those things; those are coming up soon and I think that does weigh on guys’ minds at times,” the coach said. “We understand this is a business and the team has to do what’s best for the team and players sometimes, they’re concerned about extensions, they’re concerned about their future.”
Beal if definitely opting out. Wizards should probably trade him because I doubt he resigns. Team isn’t close.
Wizards seem like a slightly better version of the Kings out west. Not a bad collection of talent, but it just doesn’t fit together and the team defense late in games isn’t there.
Wizards have good pieces (Kuzma, Deni, Hachimura) but they need to face reality and deal Beal before they get pennies with any s&t. You would also have thought Wizards mgt wait on how Bryant recovers before signing Gafford long term. Harrell is nothing special .. get whatever you can get at trade deadline. Beal for Ben ..no, get draft picks and expirings.
Gafford just signed a long term extension in October.
I see something in this trade (picks and cash to be discussed)
Cavs: Dinwiddie and Neto for Rubio and Sexton
Wizards: Hield for Dinwiddie and Neto
Sacramento: Rubio and Sexton for Hield
Why’d they give Gafford an extension only to take him out of the rotation by the end of the season once Bryant returns?
Washington makes some questionable decisions.
They resemble half a rebuilding team (Kispert, Avdija, Hachimura, Kuzma, Gafford) and half a team trying to compete (Dinwiddie, Beal, Harrell, KCP).
They haven’t made any trades or shown any direction all season. Even after they started the season strong they could’ve made a trade to get better and be where the Cavs are now. Instead they have fallen off and instead on embracing a rebuild and trading out Harrell and KCP for first or targeting some young guy they just sit around.
Wizards will always be a 5-12 team in the east. They don’t have a rich history, they aren’t a FA destination, you have to draft well and trade well to build something. Time to trade Beal and go full rebuild of the front office