Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: McHale, Livingston, Mavs, Rivers

November 25th, 2012 at 1:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets announced that coach Kevin McHale's daughter Sasha died Saturday afternoon, and Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports the 23-year-old had recently been hospitalized with a condition related to lupus, a disease she had long battled. Assistant coach Kelvin Sampson has been in charge of the team since McHale took a leave of absence on November 10th to tend to his daughter. The news is especially jarring, considering Sampson indicated a few days ago that the situation was improving. Hoops Rumors sends its sincere condolences to the McHale family. Here's more from the Southwest Division.

Anthony Davis could be out two more weeks while recovering from a stress reaction in his ankle, reports Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports hears Wizards point guard Shaun Livingston, who was in camp with the Rockets, often outplayed Jeremy Lin while in Houston, where several Rockets players and coaches tried to convince the front office not to let Livingston go.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle has shuttled offseason acquisitions Elton Brand and Chris Kaman in and out of the starting lineup, but neither player is pouting as they've put their trust in the coach, observes Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
Paul Flannery of SB Nation examines the struggles of Hornets rookie Austin Rivers, and agrees with coach Monty Williams that it's too soon to judge this year's 10th overall pick.
Flannery also passes along Williams' praise of former Hornets power forward David West, who's playing improved ball for the Pacers, and points to the emergence of Marcus Morris for the Rockets this year as a sign the D-League's true value is in the seasoning and development it provides for NBA first-round picks.

Odds & Ends: Kirilenko, Draft, Mavs, Anderson

November 21st, 2012 at 11:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

It's one of the busiest nights of the year on the hardwood in the Association, with a slate of 14 games before the league takes a one-day hiatus for Thanksgiving. There's plenty of off-court news as well, and we've got that covered here.

Mike D'Antoni will keep all the existing Lakers assistant coaches through the season, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. It looks like D'Antoni won't hire Nate McMillan, as he indicated he would do, Shelburne adds.
Nuggets coach George Karl believes the Wolves' signing of Andrei Kirilenko was a smart move, as Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune notes.
Jeremy Bauman of SheridanHoops.com breaks down the top 10 draft prospects from this week's Legends Classic tournament.
Dirk Nowitzki hopes when he comes back that he and O.J. Mayo can develop the same rhythm he had with Jason Terry, as Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram details.
James Anderson, brought back by the Spurs today, wants to copy Danny Green's ability to take advantage of a second chance, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News documents.
Jim Owczarski of OnMilwaukee.com checks in with Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis as the pair tries to answer questions about their ability to play together for the Bucks.
Sean Williams, who was waived by the Rockets over the summer, lasted just one preseason game with the Foshan Long Lions of the Chinese league after signing this week, tweets Jon Pastuszek of NiuBBall, who translated a Weibo report. The team picked up Shavlik Randolph, a Wizards training-camp invitee this year, to replace him.

Injury Notes: Stoudemire, Wizards, Lowry

November 20th, 2012 at 9:51pm CST by Sean Highkin

In the early goings of the 2012/13 season, several high-profile players have sustained injuries. Here are the latest updates on some of these players:

Mike Woodson told ESPNNewYork.com that Amar'e Stoudemire is still expected to return to the Knicks in mid-December. Woodson would not say whether Stoudemire will start.
Nene said last week that he was roughly three weeks away from returning to the Wizards, but it's possible he makes his season debut at some point this week, says Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Lee notes that John Wall is making progress as well.
Kyle Lowry returned to the Raptors Tuesday night following an ankle injury, although Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun writes that he looked rusty.
Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that he's a week away from returning from a foot injury.

Odds & Ends: Bobcats, Nash, Beal, Lakers

November 17th, 2012 at 10:27pm CST by Michael Pina

Here's a look around the NBA this Saturday evening.

The Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell wonders if the Bobcats can get anything of value for DeSagana Diop's expiring contract.
Steve Nash and Dwight Howard are teammates with the Lakers, but both of them could easily have ended up in New York with separate teams, writes Howard Beck of the New York Times.
NBA.com's Jeff Caplan has a piece on Wizards rookie shooting guard Bradley Beal, who currently leads his struggling team in scoring.
A quick recap of the Bernie Bickerstaff era as head coach of the Lakers, from ESPNLA.com's Dave McMenamin.
With James Harden flourishing as a starter with the Rockets, the Oklahoman's John Rohde wonders who will win the Sixth Man of the Year award this season.

Southeast Notes: Smith, Livingston, Beal, Wade

November 17th, 2012 at 12:34pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of Southeast teams will be in action tonight, with the Wizards aiming to finally record their first win of the season against the Jazz while the Heat look to extend their division lead in Phoenix. As we wait for the start of those games, let's round up a few notes out of the Southeast….

Following up on yesterday's Marc Stein report that indicated the Hawks have no interest in trading Josh Smith, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld agrees, suggesting in a series of tweets that it's far more likely that Smith will re-sign in Atlanta next summer.
Wizards head coach Randy Wittman pushed for Washington to sign Shaun Livingston when he became available, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post. According to Lee, Livingston attracted interest from a few other teams, but chose the Wizards because they provide the opportunity to play in a familiar system.
Bradley Beal spoke to Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld about the expectations he places upon himself in his first season with the Wizards.
Of the three Heat stars with an early termination option available in the summer of 2014, Dwyane Wade is probably the least likely to opt out, opines Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Wizards Sign Shaun Livingston, Cut Jannero Pargo

November 15th, 2012 at 2:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have signed Shaun Livingston to a contract, the team announced today in a press release. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but I would guess it's a one-year deal, likely not fully guaranteed. According to team president Ernie Grunfeld, Livingston's "size and playmaking ability will give [the Wizards] more flexibility in the backcourt."

It's not the first time the Wizards have signed Livingston as a free agent. During the 2009/10 campaign, Washington inked the 6'7" guard to a pair of 10-day contracts before signing him for the rest of the season. Livingston's PER with the Wizards over the course of 26 games was 14.4 PER, which would have been a career high over a full season.

The Wizards, off to an 0-7 start, have struggled to get solid production from the point guard position with John Wall sidelined. A.J. Price has assumed the role of starting point guard, and has averaged 10.1 PPG and 6.9 APG, but has only shot 32.9% from the floor. Backup Jannero Pargo, who was released by the Wizards to make room for Livingston, was having even more trouble from the field, shooting 25.0%.

Pargo's contract was believed to be partially guaranteed for $300K, so that amount will count against the Wizards' cap this season.

Eastern Notes: Lopez, J.R. Smith, Wall, Harkless

November 14th, 2012 at 10:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

It was a successful night for a pair of teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, as the Pistons blew out the Sixers en route to their first win after an 0-8 start, while the Bobcats dropped the Wolves for their third win in a row, moving to 4-3. The Wizards failed to join that group, and are the NBA's lone remaining winless team after losing to the Mavericks tonight. There's more on Washington and other news from the East right here.

After committing to Brook Lopez this summer, the Nets have raised their expectations of the fifth-year center, according to USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, who says the team signed Reggie Evans and Andray Blatche so they could help Lopez improve.
J.R. Smith said in training camp he wanted to start at shooting guard, but now he says he's "loving" his role as sixth man for the unbeaten Knicks, for whom he's off to a hot start, observes Nate Taylor of The New York Times.
As the 0-7 Wizards search in vain for their first win, the frustration is mounting for John Wall, who's without a timetable for a return from a stress fracture in his right knee, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. Wall will be eligible for an extension to his rookie-scale contract next summer.
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel says rookie Maurice Harkless, who missed preseason while recovering from sports hernia surgery, is already starting to show his worth a week after his debut for the Magic.
Hedo Turkoglu had hoped to be back from his broken left hand about two weeks from now, but after doctors had to put the hand back in a cast today, he could be out for another month, reports John Denton of Magic.com.
Richard Hamilton, whose $5MM deal for next season is only guaranteed for $1MM, could be a free agent next summer, but he's okay with Tom Thibodeau's plans to limit his minutes to keep him healthy, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune notes.
The Celtics are considering a D-League rehab stint for Avery Bradley once he's healthy, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.

Upcoming Guarantee Dates

November 13th, 2012 at 9:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

Most players on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts have January 15th circled on their calendars. As long as they don't clear waivers before that day, their contracts become fully guaranteed. A handful of others without full guarantees are working on a different schedule, as negotiated with their teams. The contracts for the players below become fully guaranteed if they're not waived on or before the dates listed.

Suns: P.J. Tucker¹ ($762,195, partially guaranteed for $400K) — December 1st
Bobcats: Cory Higgins ($762,195, fully non-guaranteed) — December 10th
Wizards: Jannero Pargo²($1,229,295, partially guaranteed for $300K) — December 15th
Bulls: Nate Robinson² ($1,146,337, partially guaranteed for $400K) — January 1st

¹— Tucker has already moved past one hurdle, as the size of his partial guarantee increased from $150K when he made the opening-night roster.

²— The Wizards and Bulls would only be obligated to pay $854,389, the amount equal to a third-year veteran's minimum, if they keep Pargo and Robinson, respectively, past their guarantee dates. The league would pay the rest since both are on one-year minimum-salary deals.

ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.

Injury Updates: Wall, Billups, Gordon

November 7th, 2012 at 9:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

We don't normally report on injuries at Hoops Rumors, but when a star player goes down for a lengthy absence or the injury otherwise figures to have an impact on a team's personnel decisions, we pass along that news. Tonight we have a few updates on key figures who'll be out for a while.

Wizards point guard John Wall was supposed to miss around eight weeks with an injury to his left patella, but now Wall says there's no target date for his return, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post.
Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was hopeful last month that Chauncey Billups could return from his torn left Achilles tendon sometime in November, but Billups doesn't think he'll recover quite so quickly, saying on ESPN's NBA Countdown this evening that he hopes to be back about a month from now, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles writes.
The Hornets confirmed Eric Gordon's four-to-six-week prognosis, and announced that he'll head to Los Angeles for "more personalized and intensive" rehabilitation on his troublesome right knee. John Reid of The Times-Picayune has details.

Southeast Notes: Magic, LeBron, Beal, Biyombo

November 7th, 2012 at 7:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

All five Southeast Division teams are in action tonight, including the Magic, who are starting Josh McRoberts at small forward against the Timberwolves. It's a lineup move coach Jacque Vaughn admits isn't ideal, tweets John Denton of Magic.com. The team had been using undrafted rookie DeQuan Jones as the starter at that position since Hedo Turkoglu broke his hand in the season opener. Mickael Pietrus, a former Magic player and current free agent who reportedly expects to sign soon, might be a tempting candidate to fill in, but that's just my speculation. In the meantime, there's more about the Magic and their Southeast Division rivals right here.

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports explains how Jones went from being the seventh-leading scorer at the University of Miami last season to starting games for the Magic this year.
After the Celtics packaged him as part of the Courtney Lee trade this summer, leading to his release by the Rockets, E'Twaun Moore is showing he's more than just an afterthought with his early season play for the Magic, notes Jessica Camerato of CSNNE.com.
Dwyane Wade earlier today revealed his reasons for not signing with the Nets in 2010, and Heat teammate LeBron James, also recruited by New Jersey that summer, said of the Nets that, "It was hard to see where they were at the time," writes Howard Beck of The New York Times. Wade and James were impressed by Brooklyn's offseason moves this year, Beck adds.
Rob Mahoney of SI.com identifies several players who should be seeing more time on the court, including Wizards rookie Bradley Beal and Bobcats second-year man Bismack Biyombo.