Quenton Jackson Released By Wizards
The Wizards have waived guard Quenton Jackson, according to the NBA’s official transactions log.
After going undrafted out of Texas A&M in 2022, the 6’5″ wing first joined Washington’s G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, in the fall of the 2022/23 season. The Wizards then inked him to a two-way deal in February.
In nine games with the Wizards proper, Jackson averaged 6.2 PPG, 1.7 APG and 0.9 RPG. Across 29 contests off the bench for the Go-Go, the 24-year-old posted averages of 15.5 PPG, 4.2 APG, 3.8 RPG and 1.4 SPG, with a shooting line of .535/.395/.775 shooting.
With Jackson now off their books, the Wizards have just one player, forward Eugene Omoruyi, signed to an official two-way contract heading into 2023/24. Washington can sign up to three players to two-way deals and will reportedly fill one of its open slots with guard Jared Butler.
Southeast Notes: Ball, Highsmith, Muscala, Magic
Hornets star guard LaMelo Ball signed a five-year, maximum-salary designated rookie extension, worth up to a projected $260MM, with Charlotte earlier this summer.
During a press conference with gathered reporters, Ball and team president and general manager Mitch Kupchak spoke about the new agreement, as Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer reports.
“The decision, it wasn’t really hard,” Ball, the third draft pick in 2020, said. “All my years here I’ve had a good time. Life wasn’t bad. The basketball aspect, that’s not really going well. You kind of want to live your life and just have fun and just be living well. So in Charlotte I was doing that, so it just all felt like a great choice.”
Ball was limited to just 36 contests with the Hornets in 2022/23 due to ankle injuries, but was prolific on offense when he did play. The 6’7″ guard averaged 23.3 PPG on .411/.376/.836 shooting splits, along with 8.4 APG and 6.4 RPG. Charlotte has yet to make the playoffs during Ball’s NBA career.
“To have a player of LaMelo’s caliber with his game, with his youth, we know he is going to get better as a player,” Kupchak said. “He’s here every day. He certainly had a setback last year, but in terms of healing, he’s been 100 percent healed and he’s been on the court working out every single day trying to get better.”
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- Heat forward Haywood Highsmith recently saw his $1.9MM salary for the 2023/24 season become fully guaranteed, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “It’s a good step in the right direction for me,” Highsmith told Chiang. “Still developing, still trying to get better and big things coming for me, I hope. I’ve been working hard this offseason, so it’s definitely a good step in the right direction.” Former Miami teammate Udonis Haslem, now retired, unpacked how Highsmith approaches the game. “Undersized, not a guy who you’re going to run a lot of plays for, has to be efficient,” Haslem said. “His approach is a defensive-minded approach, so he takes the challenge every night. He’s just my guy.”
- Despite a winless five-game 2023 Summer League run, the Magic were able to learn about their two rookie lottery selections, while in turn educating No. 6 pick Anthony Black and No. 11 pick Jett Howard about the team’s own approach to its internal dynamics, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. “From everybody in the front office to the coaching staff to the players, everybody’s locked in,” Howard said, “We just met each other but we still had the willingness to keep fighting and sticking together. “Even down the stretch when we’re losing, we’re still cognate for one another. We showed up and worked hard in training camp. All of those things just make a culture.”
- On the cusp of his 11th NBA season, 32-year-old Wizards big man Mike Muscala isn’t taking his longevity for granted, writes Chip Scoggins of The Star Tribune. “As a young athlete, you’re always striving for something,” Muscala said. “It’s like, ‘I want to do this. I want to compete against this person.’ There’s still a lot of value in that. But once you kind of check those boxes, it’s like, now what? When you’re grateful for whatever situation you’re in and the opportunities you have, that’s been motivating me.”
Vanterpool To Join Unseld's Staff
The Wizards are hiring David Vanterpool as an assistant coach, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. He’ll join Wes Unseld Jr.‘s staff after stops with Brooklyn, Minnesota and Portland. Vanterpool has also interviewed for a number of head coaching jobs in recent years. He didn’t coach in the league last season after he was let go by the Nets following the 2021/22 season.
- Tristan Vukcevic, drafted in the second round by the Wizards, has another option for next season if he doesn’t play in the NBA, Eurohoops.net relays. The Serbian center could be loaned out to Greece’s Peristeri after playing for Partizan Belgrade last season. SDNA’s Sotiris Betakis first reported the news. Vukcevic has played the past week for Washington’s Summer League squad.
Wizards Hiring Brian Keefe As Assistant Coach
- Brian Keefe, who spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach in Brooklyn, is joining the Wizards‘ staff under Wes Unseld Jr., sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link). As our tracker shows, Keefe was among the candidates to interview for Detroit’s head coaching job this spring.
Scotto’s Latest: Suns, Pacers, Knicks, Wright, Hornets, More
The Suns, Pacers and Knicks recently had exploratory trade talks on a deal that would have sent Cameron Payne to New York, T.J. McConnell to Phoenix, and Evan Fournier and draft picks to Indiana, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Other iterations of the deal included Jordan Nwora, according to Scotto, though it’s unclear where the Pacers forward would have ended up in that framework.
However, the talks on the three-team trade have stalled, Scotto reports. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports was first to report the Suns and Pacers discussed a deal involving Payne and McConnell, and suggested the Knicks may have been involved as well.
Here’s more from Scotto’s latest article for HoopsHype:
- League sources tell Scotto that the Hornets are on the hunt for a backup point guard after Dennis Smith Jr. signed with the Nets in free agency. As Scotto previously reported, Charlotte had interest in Aaron Holiday, but he wound up signing with the Rockets. According to Scotto, one player on Charlotte’s radar is Wizards guard Delon Wright, who will make $8.2MM next season in the final year of his contract. The Wizards traded for Tyus Jones and Jordan Poole, and Wright was signed by the previous front office regime. The 31-year-old has already seen his name pop up in a few other trade rumors this offseason.
- Scotto recently spoke to a handful of second-round picks at Summer League about their goals entering their rookie seasons. Those players are Nuggets guard Jalen Pickett, Celtics forward Jordan Walsh, and Mouhamed Gueye and Seth Lundy of the Hawks. Walsh, the No. 38 pick of the 2023 draft, has high expectations for himself, he told Scotto. “If I get a chance to play with these guys and help the team, I want to be on the All-Defensive First or Second Team or Defensive Player of the Year,” Walsh said. “My goals are defensively oriented and winning a championship, which is No. 1. If I’m able to accomplish any of those things, I’d feel my rookie year went pretty well.”
- In case you missed it, we passed along some Raptors rumors and free agent rumors from Scotto as well.
Eight 2023 Draft Picks Have Yet To Sign NBA Contracts
Of the 58 players who were selected in last month’s draft, 50 have signed their first NBA contracts during the first two weeks they’ve been permitted to do so.
As our tracker shows, the breakdown is as follows:
- First-round picks signed using the rookie scale exception: 29
- Second-round picks signed using the new second-round pick exception: 13
- Note: Of these 13 players, 12 received four-year contracts, while one (Rayan Rupert) signed a three-year deal.
- Second-round picks signed to two-way contracts: 8
That leaves eight players from the 2023 draft class who have yet to sign with their respective NBA teams. Those players are as follows:
- Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Mavericks
- James Nnaji, Hornets
- Tristan Vukcevic, Wizards
- Sidy Cissoko, Spurs
- G.G. Jackson, Grizzlies
- Mojave King, Pacers
- Jordan Miller, Clippers
- Tarik Biberovic, Grizzlies
Not all of these players will sign an NBA contract in 2023/24. King and Biberovic are each expected to spend at least one season playing overseas before coming stateside. Vukcevic is another candidate to become a draft-and-stash prospect.
It’s also unclear whether the Hornets plan to sign Nnaji right away or let the 18-year-old big man continue developing his game in Europe. For now, Charlotte only has 12 players on guaranteed contracts for 2023/24, but depending on which restricted free agents (P.J. Washington, Theo Maledon) and players on non-guaranteed deals (JT Thor, Kobi Simmons) return, there might not be a spot for Nnaji, who remains under contract with FC Barcelona and – as a No. 31 overall pick who would require an international buyout – wouldn’t be a candidate for a two-way deal.
Prosper is the only unsigned first-rounder in this year’s class, but the delay doesn’t seem like anything to worry about. The Mavericks, who continued this past week to explore the trade market and consider how to fill out their roster, have taken their time getting around to signing a handful of players, with deals for free agents like Seth Curry and Dante Exum only becoming official on Friday. I’d expect Prosper’s contract to be finalized soon.
That leaves Cissoko, Jackson, and Miller, each of whom look like candidates to receive two-way contracts. Some of the other players drafted in their range, including No. 41 pick Amari Bailey and No. 46 pick Seth Lundy, have received two-way deals, and the Spurs, Grizzlies, and Clippers all have roster logjams, meaning there may not be room on their 15-man rosters for their unsigned second-rounders.
The Spurs will have 17 players on standard contracts once they officially re-sign Tre Jones and Sandro Mamukelashvili. The Grizzlies also have 17 players under contract and would have a full 15-man roster even if they trade or waive Josh Christopher and Isaiah Todd. The Clippers have 16 players on standard contracts (15 guaranteed). However, all three teams have at least one two-way slot available.
Eastern Notes: Kuzma, Coulibaly, Walker, Schröder
With his new four-year, $90MM contract in hand, Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma achieved his rookie goal of earning more than $100MM in his NBA career, he tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Kuzma has earned about $34.5MM through six seasons to this point.
The 27-year-old says he’s ready to take on the responsibility he’ll be given after the team traded away Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, making Kuzma one of the faces of the franchise.
“It’s dope. That’s all I wanted. I’m hyped,” Kuzma said. “It’s just a great feeling. How many people in their lifetime can say they’re the face of the franchise? Someone that can help steer the direction of franchise for years to come. Yeah. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So, I’m just extremely grateful for it.”
Here’s more from the East:
- Wizards lottery pick Bilal Coulibaly appears to be uncommonly grounded for an 18-year-old who just became a multimillionaire, which could portend well for his development, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “He’s a great kid,” said Summer League coach Landon Tatum. “He listens to anything you say. He’s also a guy that can take the information we give him, especially if he’s wrong, and understand right away that he’s made the mistake. Being an NBA player, it’s all about how quickly you can correct yourself sometimes, not so much the coaches (correcting you), and he’s a guy that does it really well.”
- Lonnie Walker spoke on Tuesday about why he chose to sign with the Nets in free agency, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “(I saw) opportunity, understanding this is a very young core group looking to build, looking to grow, and I fit perfectly with the fellas that’s amongst the team as far as Cam (Johnson) and Mikal Bridges,” Walker said. “Off the court we have similar outlooks on life, and on the court we play very well. Our chemistry as far as growth and becoming a very special team is going to be something really nice.” Walker received a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum, according to Lewis.
- Dennis Schröder‘s preexisting relationship with new head coach Darko Rajakovic factored into the veteran guard signing a two-year, $25.4MM deal with the Raptors, according to Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Schröder also spoke about what he’ll bring to the club. “This year, I wanted a situation where I could handle the ball a little bit more … and I think with my teammates now, the length we have and how we can defend and the style we have is a great situation for me … being a veteran out there, making sure the young guys can be great,” Schröder said. “I have proven over the years I can be a starting point guard. (And) with those young guys who are really talented, Scottie Barnes, (OG) Anunoby and the other guys, I think we can be competitive and that’s what I’m about.”
Wizards Sign Eugene Omoruyi To Two-Way Contract
JULY 12: Omoruyi has officially signed a two-way contract with the Wizards, the club announced today in a press release.
JULY 11: The Wizards have agreed to a two-way contract with forward Eugene Omoruyi, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.
Omoruyi became a free agent when the Pistons waived him at the beginning of the month. He appeared in 17 games after initially signing a pair of 10-day deals with Detroit in early March. He averaged 9.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per game.
Omoruyi was able to earn a contract that ran through 2023/24, but it contained no guaranteed money beyond last season.
He also appeared in 23 games with Oklahoma City last season and four games with Dallas the previous season.
The Wizards have now filled two of their three two-way slots, as our two-way tracker shows. Quenton Jackson holds one of the other two-way spots.
Wizards Notes: Kuzma, Poole, Rebuilding, Van Gundy
After trading Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, the Wizards have decided to build their future around Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Both players were part of championship teams early in their careers, and Hughes points out that they were able to learn the game from NBA legends.
It appeared Washington’s new management team might opt for a full rebuild, but the Wizards made a strong push to keep Kuzma, who signed a four-year deal worth at least $90MM. The 27-year-old forward said he received indications that the franchise wanted to re-sign him during his exit interview with chairman Ted Leonsis.
“Ted (made) an emphasis that he wanted me to be here, I knew that,” Kuzma said. “I think over my past two years here I’ve been very transparent as a person. The whole entire organization from Ted, the past regime and then the new regime, they’re very transparent people, too. I never really had much to worry about on that front. I still wanted to go through the process. I think and believe I made the right decision.”
Poole, who’s about to start the first year of the extension he signed with Golden State, feels fortunate to have entered the league on a team that had Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
“Those are the two greatest shooters of all time in my opinion, personally,” he said. “There’s just things that you learn in practice, on the road that you wouldn’t be able to learn not being in the mix. I’m thankful for that.”
There’s more on the Wizards:
- During a press conference Saturday, Poole deflected questions about the end of his relationship with the Warriors and about being punched by Draymond Green, relays Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. “We’re in Washington now,” Jordan Poole told reporters. “Playing with (Kuzma) now, great duo. Being able to really flourish, expand your game. Like I said, it’s a new team with an entirely new group of guys. It’s a challenge that we’re up for. We have a new front office and a lot of people are invested. Everybody is locked in and wants to be here to start something we can have that should be special.”
- Wizards officials are focused on creating a positive culture around the team, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Sources tell Robbins that the front office won’t consider a full rebuilding project for at least two years. They re-signed Kuzma and brought in Poole and Tyus Jones to help develop first-round pick Bilal Coulibaly and give the team a strong foundation to build around. Robbins adds that the best draft class on the horizon appears to be in 2026, and the Wizards might consider bottoming out to take advantage of that, depending how the current plan works.
- If Jeff Van Gundy decides to return to coaching, there’s “some mutual interest” with the Wizards, who have openings on Wes Unseld Jr.‘s staff, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
NBA Reveals Dates, Groups For In-Season Tournament
The NBA has announced the five-team groups that will used for the league’s first-ever in-season tournament, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The unveiling took place Saturday during a special episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today” held at “NBA Con” in Las Vegas.
The groups were determined in a draw similar to what is used in soccer’s World Cup. There are six groups — three each from the Eastern Conference and Western Conference — and each conference was split into five pots based on last season’s standings. One team was randomly selected from each of the pots to determine the opening-round matchups.
The results are:
- Group 1: Sixers, Cavaliers, Hawks, Pacers and Pistons.
- Group 2: Bucks, Knicks, Heat, Wizards and Hornets.
- Group 3: Celtics, Nets, Raptors, Bulls and Magic.
- Group 4: Grizzlies, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and Trail Blazers.
- Group 5: Nuggets, Clippers, Pelicans, Mavericks and Rockets.
- Group 6: Kings, Warriors, Timberwolves, Thunder and Spurs.
The tournament will start with group play, which will match each team with the other four in its grouping. Those games will take place on Nov. 3, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24 and 28.
The winner of each group will advance to a knockout round, joined by the team with the best record in each conference among those who didn’t win a group. Quarterfinal games will be played Dec. 4 and 5, hosted by the higher-seeded teams. The four winners in that round will move on to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the Dec. 7 semifinals and the Dec. 9 championship game.
Bontemps points out that all teams will play within their conference until the last game, which guarantees an East vs. West matchup, just like the NBA Finals.
“Everybody’s not going to buy in right away,” admitted Joe Dumars, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations. “So that can’t be the goal that everybody’s going to buy in from day one. These things take time. And I think, as time goes on, I think you can build this up and people can really get into it.”
The championship trophy will be called the NBA Cup, and players will receive $500K each for winning it. Other prize money includes $200K for second place, $100K for losing in the semifinals and $50K for losing in the quarterfinals. The league opted not to provide other incentives, such as a guaranteed playoff spot, for the tournament winner.
We passed along more details on the in-season tournament right here.