The Wizards have picked up their 2023/24 team options for Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert, both of whom are on their rookie scale contracts, according to Josh Robbins and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).
As Robbins notes, exercising the options was a mere formality, since both players were pretty high picks and have been fairly productive. The ’23/24 season will be the fourth and final season of Avdija’s rookie deal, and the third season of Kispert’s.
Avdija, 21, was the No. 9 overall pick of the 2020 draft out of Israel. While his offense has been up-and-down, he’s shown to be a solid, versatile defender, especially last season. He appeared in all 82 games (24.2 MPG) during his second season in ’21/22, averaging 8.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 2.0 APG on .432/.317/.757 shooting. His ’23/24 option is worth $6,263,188.
Kispert, 23, was the No. 15 overall pick of last year’s draft after four years at Gonzaga. Known as a strong shooter, Kispert struggled to adjust to the NBA as a rookie for the first several months until he found his rhythm after the All-Star break. Overall, he averaged 8.2 PPG and 2.7 RPG on .455/.350/.871 shooting in 77 games (36 starts, 23.4 MPG). He’ll earn $3,722,040 in ’23/24.
The Wizards have a full 20-man roster entering training camp, including 15 players with fully guaranteed standard contracts, though they do have one two-way slot open at the moment.
This is a very smart move because both of them are solid and good players.