Wizards Notes: Coaching Staff, Durant, Workouts
New Wizards head coach Scott Brooks is in the process of putting together his first coaching staff in Washington, and ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter link) has an update on some of Brooks’ targets. In addition to confirming the Wizards’ interest in Tony Brown, with whom the team is reportedly finalizing a deal, Stein reports that Brooks is targeting Chad Iske and Sidney Lowe for his bench.
Iske, a former Kings assistant who wasn’t retained when Dave Joerger took over in Sacramento last month, has also drawn interest from Memphis. As for Lowe, he most recently served as an assistant in Minnesota — before that, he was an assistant in Utah and a head coach at North Carolina State.
Here’s more out of D.C.:
- Don’t count Jared Dudley among those who expect to see Kevin Durant return home and sign with the Wizards this summer. Dudley, a free-agent-to-be who spent the 2015/16 season in Washington, told Kevin Sheehan on ESPN 980 that he doesn’t envision Durant leaving the Thunder for the Wizards. “I realistically don’t,” Dudley said, per Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post. “I hope for the fans they do, because he’s from there, and he would bring such excitement. They’d be right behind Cleveland, right there with them to be able to contend. I don’t see it though.”
- More from Dudley on why he doesn’t expect superstar free agents like Durant to land in Washington this offseason: “It’s the system the NBA built. In general, no star player’s leaving to go to another team. … The system’s built for these guys to stay. Guys like Kevin Durant, Al Horford — the Wizards most likely will be going after these players, as they should. Are they really going to leave that money on the table?”
- The Wizards are bringing in prospects D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Georgetown), James Webb III (Boise State), Tyler Harris (Auburn), and James Robinson (Pittsburgh) in for a pre-draft workout today, league sources tell Michael Scott of Sheridan Hoops (Twitter link).
- The Wizards are also keeping their eye on former Seton Hall and UConn guard Sterling Gibbs, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, who tweets that Washington is looking at Gibbs for a second time on Monday.
- We recently took a closer look at the Wizards’ salary cap situation for the coming offseason.
Bryn Forbes Worked Out For Wizards
- According to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link), Michigan State guard Bryn Forbes has also been busy in recent weeks, having worked out for the Celtics, Magic, Hawks, Bulls, Wizards, and Lakers in addition to four more teams that were previously reported. Forbes still has workouts with the Pistons and Spurs on his schedule.
Tony Brown To Be Scott Brooks' Lead Assistant
Former Nets interim coach Tony Brown will be Scott Brooks‘ lead assistant with the Wizards, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Sources tell Wojnarowski the deal is currently being finalized. Brown had an 11-34 record in Brooklyn after taking over for the fired Lionel Hollins in January. The Nets parted ways with him when they hired Kenny Atkinson shortly after the regular season ended. Brown started his coaching career as an as assistant with the Trail Blazers during the 1997/98 season and has also worked for the Pistons, Raptors, Celtics, Bucks, Clippers and Mavericks. Toronto assistant Rex Kalamian turned down an offer from the Wizards last week.
- Thomas Robinson, who opted out of his contract with the Nets this week, could be a nice fit with the Wizards, according to Ben Standig of CSNMidAtlantic. The 6’10” power forward, who has been with five teams in his four-year NBA career, was born in Washington, D.C., and could be a low-cost option for a team in need of size. Marcin Gortat and Markieff Morris are the only two Wizards’ big men with guaranteed contracts for 2016/17. Robinson averaged 4.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in 71 games last season. He will be a restricted free agent after opting out of a deal worth $1,050,961.
Latest Draft News
- Former Louisville small forward Damion Lee has participated in workouts for the Clippers, Celtics, Suns, Spurs, Wizards, Jazz and Raptors, plus, he has upcoming visits scheduled with the Mavericks and Thunder, Kennedy tweets.
Latest Draft News
Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Washington Wizards
With just $45MM in guaranteed salaries on the books for 2016/17, and no draft picks to account for, the Wizards could have the flexibility to add a pair of maximum-salary contracts. However, long-coveted hometown target Kevin Durant doesn’t appear too likely to land in D.C. this summer, and one of those max salaries will likely be earmarked for Bradley Beal, despite his injury history. That leaves the Wizards with a tough call on what to do with their remaining cap room. Making a run at a second max player would require renouncing all – or at least most – of their unrestricted free agents, some of whom could be worth keeping around. It would also mean filling out the roster with a ton of minimum-salary players. In other words, it might make more sense to spread that cap room around, assuming Durant is indeed off the table.
See how Washington’s cap situation looks for 2016/17 as Hoops Rumors continues its offseason salary cap digest series.
Guaranteed Salary
- John Wall ($16,957,900)
- Marcin Gortat ($12,000,000)
- Markieff Morris ($7,400,000)
- Otto Porter ($5,893,981)
- Kelly Oubre ($2,006,640)
- (Martell Webster $833,334) — Salary remaining from release via stretch provision
- Total: $45,091,855
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Drew Gooden ($3,547,000)
- Jarell Eddie ($980,431)
- Total: $4,527,431
Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)
- Bradley Beal ($7,471,412/$14,236,685)
- Totals: $7,471,412/$14,236,685
Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)
- Nene ($19,500,000)
- Jared Dudley ($8,312,500)
- Alan Anderson ($4,800,000)
- Ramon Sessions ($2,821,605)
- J.J. Hickson ($980,431)
- Garrett Temple ($980,431)
- Marcus Thornton ($980,431)
- Total: $38,375,398
Other Cap Holds
- Will Bynum ($980,431)
- Al Harrington ($980,431)
- Total: $1,960,862
Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Latest Workout News
- The Knicks, Wizards and Suns have worked out former UConn guard Sterling Gibbs, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter).
Wizards Pre-Draft Workouts
- The Wizards held workouts today for Dorian Finney-Smith (Florida), Tim Quarterman (LSU) and Mike Tobey (Virginia), J. Michael of CSNMid-Atlantic.com relays.
- Also working out for the Wizards today were Nathan Boothe (Toledo), David Walker (Northeastern) and Abdel Nader (Iowa State), Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.
Kalamian Will Remain In Toronto
Raptors assistant Rex Kalamian has turned down offers from the Rockets and Wizards and will remain in Toronto, tweets TNT’s David Aldridge. Kalamian just completed his first season with the Raptors after six years in Oklahoma City. A 20-year veteran, he has also been on the bench with the Clippers, Nuggets, Timberwolves and Kings.
Southeast Notes: Wall, Durant, Fizdale, Weber
Wizards point guard John Wall plans an aggressive approach to bring free agent Kevin Durant to Washington, writes Michael Lee of The Vertical. The Wizards are considered a contender for Durant because the Thunder star has roots in Washington and new coach Scott Brooks coached Durant in Oklahoma City. “I feel if [Brooks] can make a pitch, and I can make a pitch and [Durant] comes, it’s great,” Wall said. “I think we do need another star here, another great player to [get over] that next hump. You need three stars to win this league.”
Wall and Durant have formed a friendship over the years, and Wall has spoken publicly before about wanting to have Durant as a teammate. However, the formal sales pitch will have to wait. “If he comes, he comes, if not, got to make other plans,” Wall said. “But that’s something I haven’t talked to him about. I’m not willing to right now. He just came off a tough series. I’m trying to give him a couple of weeks, a month off, to think about what he wants to do.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Wizards free agent center Nene wants to continue his NBA career, according to J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic. The 33-year-old recently posted on Twitter that he’s “working hard every day & getting ready.” Michael expects Washington to part ways with Nene, who earned $13MM last season.
- Former Heat assistant David Fizdale got help from Erik Spoelstra as he prepared for his interview with the Grizzlies, relates Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. After Miami was eliminated from the playoffs, Fizdale and Spoelstra turned their attention to interview preparation. “We waited ’til it was over and we got the call the next day that I was going to interview,” Fizdale said. “And so Spo and I went into playoff prep mode. He rented a room in the Ritz-Carlton for me. We got the boards up. We got the computers open. And we just basically did a crash course on prepping me for the interview.”
- Briante Weber is expected to be with the Heat during summer league, but probably not during next season, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Weber played six games for Miami this season, but Jackson says the Heat consider him limited offensively and found he had trouble remembering plays. He is scheduled to make $875K in 2016/17, but only about a fourth of that is guaranteed.