- The Wizards will audition Keita Bates-Diop (Ohio State), Khadeen Carrington (Seton Hall), Bryant Crawford (Wake Forest), Brandon McCoy (UNLV), Doral Moore (Wake Forest), and Jonathan Stark (Murray State) on Thursday, according to the team.
Texas A&M center Robert Williams, who previously worked out for the Bulls, Hornets, and Knicks, continues to earn looks from teams picking in the top half of the first round. According to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (Twitter link), Williams still has workouts on tap with the Clippers, Nuggets, Wizards, who hold the picks from 12 through 15.
- Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Elijah Brown (Oregon), Nana Foulland (Bucknell), Tyler Nelson (Fairfield), Billy Preston (BC Igokea), and Corey Sanders (Rutgers) are working out for the Wizards today, according to the club.
Wizards shooting guard Jodie Meeks has opted in for the 2018/19 season, exercising the second-year player option on his contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
[RELATED: NBA Player Option Decisions for 2018/19]
Meeks’ option is worth $3,454,500, though he won’t earn that full amount since he still has to serve the remaining 19 games on his 25-game suspension. The veteran sharpshooter received the 25-game ban at the end of the regular season for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. As a result, he sat out the Wizards’ six-game playoff series against Toronto.
The league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement calls for a player who receives a suspension of 20 or more games to forfeit 1/110th of his salary per game. As such, Meeks’ 2018/19 salary will be reduced by nearly $600K.
[RELATED: Five Key Offseason Questions: Washington Wizards]
Meeks, 30, signed a two-year contract with the Wizards last summer, as the team hoped he could provide some outside shooting off the bench following Bojan Bogdanovic‘s departure. While Meeks was a regular rotation piece throughout the season, averaging 14.5 MPG in 77 contests, he struggled a little with his three-point shot. His 0.9 threes per game and .343 3PT% were the lowest marks he had posted since his rookie season.
Meeks is the second Wizards to pick up a player option this offseason, with Jason Smith also exercising his $5.45MM option. Combined with Washington’s guaranteed contracts, those options take the club’s total team salary above $124MM for next season. A taxpaying team in 2017/18, the Wizards will likely have to trim some salary to avoid being in the tax again in 2018/19.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Oregon shooting guard Troy Brown worked out for the Spurs on Sunday, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets. The Spurs hold the No. 18 pick and Brown is ranked No. 19 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. Brown then worked out for the Wizards Monday and is headed to Milwaukee for an evaluation by the Bucks, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. Washington owns the No. 15 selection with the Bucks at No. 17.
We have plenty of other workouts to pass along:
- The Lakers will work out Abdul-Malik Abu (North Carolina State), Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Kameron Chatman (Detroit), Manu Lecomte (Baylor), Marcus Lee (Cal) and Matt Mobley (St. Bonaventure) on Tuesday, the team’s PR department tweets. Seton Hall big man Angel Delgado will get a second look from the Lakers on Tuesday, Adam Zagoria of the New York Times tweets.
- The Grizzlies will bring in six second-round prospects on Tuesday, according to a team press release. That group includes A.J. Davis (UCF), Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky), Brandon Goodwin (Florida Gulf Coast), Devonte’ Graham (Kansas), Terry Larrier (Connecticut) and Ray Spalding (Louisville). Memphis held a workout with projected lottery pick Wendell Carter Jr. on Monday, Chris Herrington tweets. Carter is ranked No. 6 by Givony; the Grizzlies have the No. 4 pick.
- Arizona guard Rawle Alkins will be evaluated by the Warriors on Tuesday, according to another Zagoria tweet.
- Swingman Todd Withers (Queens) has worked out for the Thunder, Nets and Hornets, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
- Zhaire Smith will work out for the Sixers and Suns after visiting the Wizards on Monday, Chase Hughes of NBCSWashington tweets. The Texas Tech forward is ranked No. 16 overall by Givony.
After winning a playoff series and pushing the Celtics to a seventh game in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2017, the Wizards entered the 2017/18 season looking to compete for a spot in the NBA Finals. However, the club battled injuries and inconsistent play through the year, ultimately taking a step back. Washington finished eighth in the East at 43-39, and was quickly dispatched in the first round of the postseason.
With no cap room available in 2018, the Wizards have no clear path to improving their roster, so general manager Ernie Grunfeld will have to get creative as he seeks out potential upgrades.
Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:
1. Will the Wizards keep their “Big Three” intact?
It’s not quite LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, but the Wizards have their own Big Three, with long-term, maximum-salary contracts on their books for John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter. The trio counts for more than $70MM on Washington’s cap in 2018/19, and that figure will increase substantially the following year when Wall’s new super-max extension takes effect.
Although modern NBA teams need star players in order to seriously contend for a title, it’s not clear if the Wizards’ trio has quite enough star-power to justify the team’s huge investment. Wall has battled knee issues during his career, and Beal and Porter have combined for just one All-Star appearance between them. As long as those three players remain on the roster, it will be tricky to add productive complementary pieces around them, and they aren’t the sort of superstars who can thrive without those complementary pieces.
It’s fair to wonder if the Wizards will seriously consider the possibility of breaking up their Big Three this summer. Wall’s super-max extension and knee issues cloud his value, while Beal is coming off a career year, so Porter may be the most logical trade candidate of the three. Teams around the NBA covet three-and-D wings, and Porter fits very nicely into that role, having knocked down 43.7% of his three-pointers over the last two seasons.
Porter’s salary is probably a little too high to expect a huge return, but if a team is willing to part with an impact big man for him, the Wizards should listen. One popular hypothetical scenario would see Washington acquiring Wall’s former Kentucky teammate DeMarcus Cousins in a sign-and-trade with the Pelicans, who could use a wing like Porter. However, there are a number of CBA roadblocks that could get in the way of such a deal, even if both teams agreed on value.
2. How will the Wizards address the center position?
Whether or not they explore a major trade, the Wizards will probably try to find a way to make a change at the center spot, where Marcin Gortat and Ian Mahinmi will earn nearly $30MM between them in 2018/19. Gortat and Mahinmi have their moments, but their offensive games are limited, and neither player is the sort of elite defender who can anchor a defense.
If the Wizards keep Porter, their best shot at landing an impact player in a trade might be attaching Kelly Oubre and/or a first-round pick to Gortat’s expiring contract, since Mahinmi’s deal still has negative value. While there may not be a ton of impact centers on the trade market, I’d expect Washington to kick the tires on guys like Hassan Whiteside, DeAndre Jordan, and Jonas Valanciunas, among others.
The Wizards’ ability to go after a center in free agency will be limited, given the team’s lack of cap room, so the draft may be the only other avenue to address the position in a real way. If Texas A&M’s Robert Williams slips out of the lottery to No. 15, he’d be a great fit.
- The Wizards will also host a Monday workout, as the team takes a closer look at Jaylen Adams (St. Bonaventure), Troy Brown (Oregon), Angel Delgado (Seton Hall), Alan Herndon (Wyoming), Elie Okobo (France), and Zhaire Smith (Texas Tech), per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). Brown, Okobo, and Smith are all top-25 prospects on Jonathan Givony’s ESPN big board, so they could be in play for Washington at No. 15.
The Nets, who currently hold the 29th, 40th, and 45th overall picks in the 2018 NBA draft, would like to move up into the teens if possible, league sources tell Michael Scotto of The Athletic.
Scotto identifies the Nuggets (No. 14), Wizards (No. 15), and Bucks (No. 17) as three teams picking in the middle of the first round who are currently in win-now mode, making them potential trade partners for Brooklyn. The Nets could dangle modestly-priced point guard Spencer Dinwiddie in trade talks, according to Scotto, who notes that veteran forward DeMarre Carroll may appeal to some teams too. Carroll played for new Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta.
Scotto suggests that the Nets would rather not compromise their 2019 cap flexibility, so if they take on any salary in a trade, they’d prefer expiring contracts. That could make them a match with the Denver or Washington — both teams will probably be looking to shed some salary this offseason and are carrying pricey veterans entering contract years.
According to Scotto, the Nets aren’t the only team mulling the possibility of a move up. As Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reported earlier this week, the Clippers have weighed trading up in the lottery too.
Per Scotto, the Clips have made calls to multiple teams in the top 10 to inquire on how much it would cost to make a deal. In addition to holding the 12th and 13th overall picks, Los Angeles has some veterans entering contract years. Tobias Harris would be a particularly appealing trade chip if the team is willing to move him.
The Sixers are one more team to keep an eye on when it comes to draft-related trades, Scotto observes, pointing out that Philadelphia currently owns two first-round picks and four second-rounders. The club figures to move at least one or two of those selections, and may target draft-and-stash prospects with some others, says Scotto.
- Candace Buckner of The Washington Post takes a look at the options the Wizards are thinking about with the No. 15 pick in this month’s NBA Draft. Three prospects that Buckner specifically mentions are point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, shooting guard Lonnie Walker IV, and big man Robert Williams.
- Speaking of the Jazz, free-agent-to-be Derrick Favors may very well return to Utah, as he would reportedly prefer, but as opined by Frank Urbina of HoopsHype, three other potential landing spots include the Wizards, Bucks, and Warriors, all of whom could offer Favors their mid-level exception.
- Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington examined the Wizards‘ possible draft strategy as the team prepares to select players for the first time since 2015. Hughes writes that Washington could use its first- and second-round picks to select either a modern big man, wing player or backup point guard.
- It may be enticing for the Wizards to shop their first-round pick, but the team should learn from previous seasons and retain that pick to draft a young player, Hughes writes in a separate story.