Newly acquired Blake Wesley will become a free agent after agreeing to a contract buyout with the Wizards, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The team has confirmed (via Twitter) that the buyout has been finalized.
The 22-year-old shooting guard came to Washington earlier this month along with Malaki Branham in a deal that sent Kelly Olynyk to San Antonio. However, he faced a difficult road to earn regular minutes on a roster filled with young players. There’s no word on how money he gave back on his $4,726,328 contract for the upcoming season.
Wesley expects to sign with another team, adds Scotto, who notes that he’s an effective perimeter defender and shot 37% from three-point range in the second half of the season.
Wesley was selected with the 25th pick in the 2022 draft and spent his first three years with the Spurs. He appeared in 58 games last season, averaging 3.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 11.8 minutes per night with .435/.293/.623 shooting splits.
The agreement with Wesley, along with the buyout of Marcus Smart and the release of Richaun Holmes, have helped to clear up a roster crunch that the Wizards were experiencing. Once the moves become official, they’ll be down to 14 fully guaranteed contracts, along with Justin Champagnie, has a $2.4MM non-guaranteed deal and Anthony Gill, who is expected to re-sign.
I’d be happy if he went back to spurs. He plays hard and plays good defense. Limited on offense but in a third Pg off the bench situationally can help a team.
Wizards = I’m available at a reasonable price to NOT PLAY FOR YOU !!
Poor Marcus Smart. Celtics really screwed him over, like Isaiah.