Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Checking In On Starter Criteria, Traded Draft Picks, Mavs’ Two-Ways, More

March 31st, 2025 at 12:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The months on the calendar between the NBA's in-season trade deadline and the start of the offseason represent the only time of year in which teams aren't permitted to make trades.

Still, while the possibility of Shams Charania dropping shocking trade news in the middle of the night is off the table during this final stretch of the regular season, there's plenty going on around the league that will impact future roster decisions and trade talks.

We're checking in on a few of those subplots today. Let's dive right in...

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Wizards Notes: Record Loss, Sarr, Champagnie, Middleton

March 28th, 2025 at 12:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

Losing games is beneficial for the Wizards as they try to maximize their lottery odds, but there was nothing to be gained from Thursday night’s performance, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Washington set franchise records by giving up 162 points to Indiana and losing by 53 points. The Pacers overwhelmed the Wizards’ defense, shooting 64.1% from the field and 57.4% from three-point range.

“You should be upset,” coach Brian Keefe said. “You shouldn’t be happy. But it’s always about what you do going forward. Unfortunately, losses like this happen. You don’t want them to. No one’s happy about it, most of all our organization, me and the players especially. We’ve got competitive guys in our locker room. But it’s how you go forward. It’s always how you respond.”

At 16-57, Washington remains a half-game “behind” the 16-58 Jazz in the race for the league’s worst record. Robbins points out that the Wizards have been playing better lately, putting together a 6-4 run from February 24 to March 15 that included wins at Detroit and Denver. They also won at Philadelphia on Wednesday, so there were no warning signs that they were about to break this 54-year-old record.

“We’re competitors, so we definitely don’t want to be on the bad side of games like that,” Jordan Poole said. “I think we know that the longer you play, the more games you play, there will be nights like this, especially coming off of a back-to-back. I think we in the locker room know that’s not acceptable, especially for the standard that we’re trying to set, in how we played. But we’ve got to find ways to just learn from it, get better and then bounce back in a couple of days.”

There’s more from Washington:

Rookie big man Alex Sarr scored 22 points Thursday night and led the Wizards in shots for the seventh time in the last eight games, according to Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. The No. 2 overall pick is enjoying his best month of the season, averaging 17.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in March, and may be making a late bid for Rookie of the Year honors. “I think it’s a nice accomplishment. But at the same time I think there’s way more than just getting (an) individual award,” Sarr said. “… I’m going to be part of this team hopefully for a lot of years to come. And what we’re building right now is more important than (individual awards).”
In an interview with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Justin Champagnie admits he considered giving up his NBA dream as he fought to earn a roster spot over the last three years. The 23-year-old small forward’s efforts were rewarded this season when he signed a four-year, $10MM deal with the Wizards that includes $1.8MM in guaranteed money. “To be honest with you, I probably thought about quitting three or four times,” Champagnie said. “I always told myself no matter what happens, stay grounded, remember where you came from, keep doing what you’re doing, and let it be what it’s going to be.”
Khris Middleton, who was traded to Washington at the deadline after a long career in Milwaukee, believes the Wizards have a bright future and could challenge for the playoffs soon, Scotto adds. “I think if you give us a full offseason and give us a full season together,” he said, “with the improvement of the young core, which is going to be huge, I think they can take a big step because of the way they work, how talented they are, and how smart they are.”

France Eyes Victor Wembanyama For EuroBasket

March 28th, 2025 at 7:59am CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs shut down Victor Wembanyama last month due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, but there’s hope that he might be able to represent France at EuroBasket this summer.

In an interview with L’Equipe, French national team coach Frédéric Fauthoux said Wembanyama’s condition is being monitored to see if he can return for the international tournament, which gets underway in late August.

“We had Victor before his operation, he is motivated to be part of the team,” Fauthoux said. “We’ll see as he evolves physically, we’ll make the decision when it’s the right time, until then, we’ll be in the dark. But he feels good, everything is going well (in his rehabilitation).”

Wembanyama underwent surgery for the condition, which was discovered when he returned to San Antonio following the All-Star Game. Deep vein thrombosis is a form of a blood clot that affects the flow of blood to his shoulder. The Spurs don’t believe it’s a concern for Wembanyama’s long-term health, and he’s expected to be ready when training camp opens in late September.

Wembanyama was in the midst of an outstanding second NBA season before the medical issue arose. He averaged 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals and a league-high 3.8 blocks in 46 games and had been considered a heavy favorite for Defensive Player of the Year honors. He made his first All-Star appearance after being selected by coaches as a reserve.

Having Wembanyama, who starred at the Olympics last summer, would significantly improve the prospects for the French team, which wound up with difficult early matchups at Thursday’s draw. France will meet Luka Doncic and Slovenia in the group stage and could face Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s Greek team later on.

Fauthoux expects to have several NBA players on his EuroBasket roster, including the Hawks’ Zaccharie Risacher and the Wizards’ Alex Sarr, who were the top two picks in last year’s draft.

“They are close to a pre-selection,” he said. “They are two players with a great future, with a lot of talent, and both have playing time in the NBA, it’s very important for me, for possible selections, it’s essential with the competition from EuroLeague, Eurocup, Champions League players.”

EuroBasket will take place from August 27 to September 14 with games in Cyprus, Finland, Poland and Latvia.

Wizards’ Khris Middleton To Undergo MRI On Right Knee

March 27th, 2025 at 10:50pm CST by Rory Maher

After playing 14 first-half minutes on Thursday against Indiana, forward Khris Middleton was ruled out for the second half due to right knee soreness, the Wizards announced (via Twitter).

In his post-game press conference, head coach Brian Keefe said Middleton would undergo an MRI on his right knee, per Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network (Twitter link).

It’s unfortunate news for the three-time All-Star, who was traded to Washington last month after spending 10-plus seasons in Milwaukee. Middleton was a key part of the Bucks’ championship run in 2022, but his career has been derailed by a series of injuries the past few seasons.

The 33-year-old has appeared in just 36 total games in 2024/25, averaging 12.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists on .476/.362/.866 shooting in 23.0 minutes per contest. That’s the fewest minutes he’s averaged since he was a rookie with Detroit back in ’12/13.

Middleton holds a $33.3MM player option for ’25/26 that he’s widely expected to exercise.

In other Wizards injury news, forward Anthony Gill was also ruled out for the remainder of Thursday’s game after playing three minutes in the first half. He’s dealing with left hip soreness, per the team (Twitter link).

Southeast Notes: Banchero, Johnson, Nurkic, Niang

March 27th, 2025 at 9:45am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Magic have moved within a half-game of seventh-place Atlanta for the top seed in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. That’s due in large part to Paolo Banchero‘s resurgence. Their star forward has reached the 30-point mark in four consecutive games, including three victories.

In 16 games following the All-Star break, Banchero is second in the league in scoring (29.6 PPG) behind only MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (34.1).

“I’m playing some good basketball right now,” he told Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. “[I] just want to keep it up.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

AJ Johnson, who was part of the Kyle Kuzma/Khris Middleton deal between the Wizards and Bucks, has shown off his athleticism since joining Washington with some high-flying dunks, Varun Shankar of the Washington Post writes. Johnson, a late first-round pick last June, had a season-high 17 points against Toronto on Monday, then showed his passing skills with nine points and six assists against Philadelphia on Wednesday. “Getting better and better every game,” Wizards coach Brian Keefe said.
Jusuf Nurkic is feeling at home in Charlotte with the Hornets after a tumultuous season-and-a-half with the Suns, he told Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “It’s obviously a different situation,” Nurkic said. “Sometimes, it’s good for players to change situations, change teams. But just being in a respectful environment, usually the response is good. So we are still learning each other — the coaches, team. The organization is still learning me and I’m learning the organization, getting a feel for each other in our evaluations and stuff. But so far, so good.” Nurkic has one year left on his four-year, $70MM contract.
Georges Niang has given the Hawks a boost since being traded by Cleveland. He’s averaging 13.3 points in 19 games while making 42.3 percent of his 3-point attempts. He told Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda that the Hawks made the transition easier. “This organization has done everything to help me get comfortable with the city and the team. They’ve made it feel like home — and you don’t get that everywhere. I’m truly thankful to be with a high-class, first-class organization like the Atlanta Hawks,” he said. Niang, playing for his fifth team, is signed through next season.

NBA Fines Wizards’ Jordan Poole $2K For Flopping

March 23rd, 2025 at 3:15pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has announced (via Twitter) that, after a league office review, it has retroactively fined Wizards guard Jordan Poole $2,000 for flopping during Washington’s Saturday night blowout loss to New York.

After missing a layup, Poole theatrically fell to the floor in an effort to convince the officials he took an elbow from Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns (video link).

Poole had a solid showing otherwise in the 122-103 defeat. He scored 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, including 3-of-9 shooting from the three-point line. He also made all four of his free throw looks. The 6’4″ pro dished out three dimes and pulled down three boards.

Through 60 games for the Wizards this year, Poole is averaging a career-high 20.5 points per game with a shooting line of .424/.372/.878. He’s also chipping in 4.6 APG, 3.2 RPG, and 1.4 SPG.

The 25-year-old is in the second season of a four-year, $123MM rookie contract extension he inked while still with Golden State. Should Poole manage to stay healthy through the end of the regular season, his performance this season should help improve his value going forward, though it’s unclear if Washington would attempt to move him this offseason.

In the Eastern Conference, the 15-55 Wizards are the only team that’s already been eliminated from the 2024/25 postseason thus far. With a loss tonight to the slumping Heat, however, the 18-52 Hornets would join them.

Meanwhile, the win for New York improved the club’s record to 44-26 on the year, keeping the Knicks three games ahead of the 41-29 Pacers for the East’s No. 3 seed.

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Sarr, Daniels, Magic

March 23rd, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

The Wizards looked like a team in contention for the top pick in the draft for most of Saturday’s game at New York before a late rally made things close, writes Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. Washington trimmed a 33-point deficit down to four points early in the fourth quarter, but the Knicks were able to regroup and finish off a 122-103 victory, giving the Wizards a half-game edge over Utah in the race for the league’s worst record.

“Showed great resolve during that period. … The guys just continued to make the right play on both ends of the floor,” coach Brian Keefe said. “It wasn’t home run plays. It was a box out, a deflection, making the right pass. And then we just stacked those possessions.”

After reducing the minutes for his veteran players earlier this week, Keefe has returned to a regular rotation. Khris Middleton was held out Saturday because it was the second night of a back-to-back, but Jordan Poole was on the court for nearly 28 minutes and backup center Richaun Holmes returned to action after sitting out the previous three games. Shankar notes that Keefe only used eight players until late in the third quarter when Colby Jones and Anthony Gill entered the game and helped to spark the rally.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Wizards showed more confidence in rookie center Alex Sarr than they did in their last meeting the Knicks, Shankar adds. Previously, Keefe used small forward Justin Champagnie as the primary defender on Karl-Anthony Towns, with Sarr roaming on defense. On Saturday, Keefe let Sarr handle Towns one-on-one. “I loved it,” teammate Marcus Smart said. “He’s learning. Towns is a vet in this league, and he’s been doing this for a very long time. … [Sarr] has to get a little bit stronger — he knows it. But I liked the approach he had. He wasn’t running from the challenge. And he’s only going to get better.”
Hawks guard Dyson Daniels had three more steals on Saturday, increasing his league-leading total to 197 on the season. With at least one steal in 41 straight games, he tied Mookie Blaylock for the third-longest streak in franchise history, according to Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m proud of that kid. I think he’s DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) for the season,” Onyeka Okongwu said. “I’m excited to watch him going forward.”
The Magic are hoping Friday’s 120-point outburst at Washington will spark their offense for the rest of the season, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. He notes that Orlando is 7-1 when reaching the 120-point mark, but the team still has the league’s least-productive offense at 104.8 PPG. “It was huge,” coach Jamahl Mosley said of Friday’s performance. “Our guys understanding what we need to do, how we need to take care of business when we are on the road one game at a time and focus in these moments to play the right-type defense and have our offense clicking at the right is very important for this group as continue down the stretch.”

And-Ones: Rebuilding Teams, Free Agency, Flagg, NBL

March 21st, 2025 at 9:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Among 11 NBA teams in various stages of their respective rebuilds, the Spurs are best positioned for the long run, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link). San Antonio’s place atop the rankings has a lot to do with the presence of Victor Wembanyama on the roster, but Bontemps points to Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, and recently acquired point guard De’Aaron Fox as other likely core pieces for the Spurs, who could end up with two more lottery picks this spring.

Interestingly, Bontemps places the Hornets and Wizards at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, on his rebuild rankings, praising Charlotte in particular for its promising collection of young talent. The Trail Blazers and Bulls come in at 10th and 11th on Bontemps’ list, largely because there are questions about whether either team has a franchise player to build around and whether they’ll be in position to land one in the draft anytime soon.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

John Hollinger of The Athletic highlights several of the challenging situations that teams will face in free agency this summer, including the Cavaliers with Ty Jerome, the Nuggets with Russell Westbrook, the Kings with Jake LaRavia, and the Sixers with Quentin Grimes and Guerschon Yabusele. Many of those clubs will be limited in what they can offer their free agents, either due to a lack of full Bird rights or tax/apron concerns.
Meanwhile, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) looks ahead to 2026 and explains why next year’s star-studded free agent class will likely be something of a mirage, given all the contract extensions likely to be signed between now and then.
ESPN draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Insider link) spoke to 10 NBA executives about projected No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, surveying those execs on the Duke freshman’s strengths and weaknesses, his odds of winning a title with the Blue Devils, and whether there’s any chance he decides to stay in school for another year. “I can’t remember a No. 1 pick deciding to go back to school,” one Eastern Conference scout told ESPN.
Ahead of the NBA playing its first games in Australia this fall, a battle over the ownership of the country’s National Basketball League appears to be brewing. Olgun Uluc of ESPN Australia has the story.

Jazz Notes: Tshiebwe, Collier, Kessler, Markkanen

March 21st, 2025 at 5:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Oscar Tshiebwe has continued to put up incredible rebounding numbers at the G League level this season, averaging an eye-popping 18.6 boards per game – including 8.3 offensive – in 23 regular season appearances (31.8 MPG). On Wednesday, the Jazz two-way player brought those talents to the NBA just hours after after playing for the Salt Lake City Stars in the G League.

Tshiebwe piled up 37 points and 26 rebounds for the Stars against the Mexico City Capitanes in the morning, then contributed four points and 10 rebounds for Utah in the evening, notes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. In total, it was a 41-point, 36-rebound day for the big man, who played nearly 60 minutes overall. Did he feel like it was too much basketball in a single day?

“No. The season will finish soon and I will sleep for two weeks. I’m good,” Tshiebwe told Larsen on Wednesday night. “This is a great chance, it is a blessing to be here. It doesn’t matter if they asked me to play five games in 24 hours.

“… We always think we stay young and that we’re going to do this the rest of our life. But we don’t know, it might end tonight, it might end tomorrow. I feel like today is all I have, and today I have to give everything I have. Every time I go to bed, if I feel like I didn’t give everything, I am so mad. I go back in the gym at night. And then maybe I go on the treadmill and run, and make sure I empty out my tank.

“Tonight, I will sleep. I played 56 minutes and had 36 rebounds. That’s still not enough. That’s my attitude. Today is the only thing you have, and you will never get to do it again. That’s what I do.”

Tshiebwe will be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason when his two-way deal expires.

Here’s more on the Jazz:

Utah’s coaching staff is said to be focusing on “player development” as the season winds down. What exactly does that mean? Asked by Larsen what specifically he’s focused on with Isaiah Collier‘s development, head coach Will Hardy pointed to the way the rookie guard gathers the ball when he drives to the basket. “I think Isaiah is used to being a lot stronger than people that he plays against, and at this level, it just doesn’t work that way,” Hardy explained. “If you’re driving most of the time, there’s somebody on your side, and that person usually has, in this league, relatively long arms. So if I gather the ball and bring it to the middle of my body, he has a chance to swipe it. I think the elite players are very good at gathering on the outside of their body and protecting the ball so that the on-ball defender doesn’t isn’t able to get their hands on it.”
The Jazz and Wizards ended up activating multiple players who were initially listed as doubtful or out for Wednesday’s game. Utah, for example, originally said starting center Walker Kessler would miss the game due to “rest,” but ultimately made him available. Josh Robbins of The Athletic believes league officials spoke with both teams about their player usage ahead of a matchup that loomed large for lottery odds. The Jazz have already been fined once this month for violating the league’s player participation policy.
Utah has listed at least seven players as out for Friday’s game vs. Boston, with forward Lauri Markkanen missing a second consecutive game for personal reasons.
As we noted earlier this week, Hardy has encouraged Kessler to start letting it fly from beyond the arc — Hardy has reportedly told the big man to try to take six three-pointers per game after he attempted just six overall in his first 50 games this season. That trend continued on Wednesday as Kessler launched six threes in just 15 minutes of action. He’s 2-of-17 from the outside in his past three games.

Wizards’ Saddiq Bey To Practice With G League Affiliate

March 21st, 2025 at 9:06am CST by Rory Maher

Forward Saddiq Bey has been out of action since March 10, 2024, when he tore the ACL in his left knee as a member of the Hawks. As a free agent last July, the 25-year-old signed a three-year, $20MM ($1MM in incentives) contract with the Wizards.

A little more than a year after his initial injury, Bey appears to be nearing his 2024/25 season debut. Sources tell Josh Robbins of The Athletic that Bey will practice with the Capital City Go-Go — the Wizards’ NBA G League affiliate — on Friday and Saturday (Twitter link).

According to Robbins, Washington’s goal is for Bey to play in some NBA games in April. The Wizards have a total of seven games on their schedule next month, including one on April 13, the final day of the regular season.

While the Wizards will likely bring the former first-round pick along slowly in the final stages of his recovery from a major injury, the fact that he’s progressed to this point is a good sign for his availability for next season. In 63 games with Atlanta in ’23/24, Bey averaged 13.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 32.7 minutes per contest, with a shooting slash line of .416/.316/.837.

At 15-53, the Wizards currently have the worst record in the NBA. If that stands for the remainder of the season, they will pick no worse than No. 5 overall in the 2025 draft.