Category: Washington Wizards Blog

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Jodie Meeks to sign with Wizards

Here’s the Washington Post with an update on the Wizards, on the second day of league free agency:

Jodie Meeks to sign with Wizards

On Sunday, the Washington Wizards added shooting depth to its bench unit by agreeing to terms with free agent Jodie Meeks.

Washington will bring in Meeks on a short-term deal for two years and $7 million by using its bi-annual exception: a salary-cap exception the team can use every two years.

Meeks, who will turn 30 years old in August, has played for five teams over his eight-year career. Known as a three-point threat, Meeks shot a career-best .409 percentage through a scattered and injury-plagued 2016-17 season with the Orlando Magic.

Wizards land Tim Frazier in trade

Here’s CSN MidAtlantic reporting on the Wizards, who yesterday traded for additional backcourt depth in the form of guard Tim Frazier:

The type of move I’ve talked about the Wizards making in the offseason — and having to do so out of necessity — came to fruition less than 24 hours before the NBA Draft when they traded their 52nd pick and sent their $2.3 million trade exception to the New Orleans Pelicans for Tim Frazier.

Frazier, a 6-1 backup point guard who bounced around the NBA intially after he went undrafted in 2014, has solidified himself as a rotation player. He averaged 7.1 points and 5.2 assists in 65 games last season. He also proved to be a more than competent backup for Jrue Holiday when he was out for personal reasons…

He’s proven and they needed that type of point guard immediately. Trey Burke wasn’t the answer as he couldn’t run the offense, that’s not a problem for Frazier. Brandon Jennings played with better pace but had a tendency to be erratic and was a turnstile on defense. His contract also is salary-cap friendly for a team that doesn’t have the room.

Pelicans trade Tim Frazier to Wizards

Pelicans trade Tim Frazier to Wizards

The New Orleans Pelicans have announced that the team has acquired the 52nd overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft from the Washington Wizards in exchange for point guard Tim Frazier.

Frazier, 6-1, 170, was originally signed by New Orleans on March 16, 2016. In 81 career games with the Pelicans, Frazier averaged 8.3 points, 5.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 24.6 minutes per contest. Undrafted out of Penn State in 2014, Frazier has appeared in 127 career regular season games with Philadelphia, Portland and New Orleans, holding averages of 6.2 points, 4.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game.

New Orleans now has the 40th and 52nd overall picks in tomorrow night’s NBA Draft.

Good year for Bradley Beal under new deal

Here’s CSN Mid Atlantic reporting on Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal, who became a very well-paid player one year ago and lived up to most expectations this past season:

Good year for Bradley Beal under new deal

Beal signed his new deal, a five-year contract worth $128 million, last July. It was a max contract for a guy who had never made an All-Star team and who had battled injuries, including last season when he only played in 55 games and only started 35. Naturally, some wondered if he was worth the money because of his problems staying healthy through four NBA seasons.

But in his first year under a new contract, Beal achieved newfound durability. He had some minor issues here and there, but managed to play 77 out of the Wizards’ 82 games and then appear in all of their 13 playoff games.

“If anything, I’m proud of that. I’m happy for myself, being able to be healthy for a full year,” Beal said. “Being able to be on the floor, man, that’s all I wanted. Just being able to be here. I knew if I was healthy that I would have a successful year. I had that opportunity this season.”

On the Wizards and fatigue

It’s completely logical to assume that most NBA players are a bit worn out by the end of the regular season. But if minutes are managed to keep certain guys well-rested for the playoffs? It’s a different story in the postseason, where — unless you’re the Cavs or Warriors — the luxury of rest disappears. Were key Wizards players worn out by the end of their series with the Celtics? Here’s CSN MidAtlantic reporting:

“I think we was fatigued, but that’s not an excuse,” Wall said.

“I’m not going to be naive and say we weren’t tired and that exhaustion didn’t play a little factor,” Beal added. “But at the same time you still have to be mentally tough to fight through it.”

“You can say maybe we did run out of gas a little bit,” Brooks said. “But that’s nothing to look back at and say ‘that’s the reason.’ Tip your hat off to them. They played well.”

Kelly Oubre suspended one game for slamming into Kelly Olynyk

Kelly Oubre suspended one game for slamming into Kelly Olynyk

Washington Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. has been suspended one game without pay for charging and making forceful and unwarranted contact with Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident, for which Oubre was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, occurred with 9:12 remaining in the second quarter of the Wizards’ 116-89 win over the Celtics on May 4 at Verizon Center.

Oubre will serve his suspension on Sunday, May 7 when Washington hosts Boston in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference Semifinals series.

Markieff Morris fined for kick to Mason Plumlee

Markieff Morris fined for kick to Mason Plumlee

Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris has been fined $25,000 for kicking Denver Nuggets center Mason Plumlee in the groin, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, for which Morris was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, occurred with 2:08 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Wizards’ 123-113 win over the Nuggets on March 8 at Pepsi Center.

Wizards sign Brandon Jennings

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Brandon Jennings.

In addition, the team waived forward Danuel House.

“Brandon gives us playmaking ability and experience at the guard position while adding another scoring option as well,” said Grunfeld. “His presence, along with the recent acquisition of Bojan Bogdanovic and the continued progression of Ian Mahinmi, will help our team as we continue our push towards the playoffs.”

Jennings (6-1, 170) has played seven-plus seasons with Milwaukee, Detroit, Orlando and New York. In 518 career regular season games, he has averaged 14.8 points, 5.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 31.4 minutes per game. In 58 games (11 starts) for the New York Knicks this season, Jennings averaged 8.6 points, 4.9 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 25 minutes per game.

He has shot .349 from three-point range for his career, has ranked in the top 20 in the NBA in assists per game four times (including sixth in 2013-14 and averaged 16.7 points and 3.7 assists in 11 playoff games (11 starts) for the Bucks in 2010 and 2013 (including 18.7 points in seven games in 2010).

The former 2009 10th overall draft pick enjoyed his best season in 2011-12 for the Milwaukee Bucks when he averaged a career-high 19.1 points, 5.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals, while shooting a career-high .418 from the field. He was named to the 2009-10 NBA All-Rookie Team after averaging 15.5 points and 5.7 assists while playing all 82 games and played in Italy for Virtus Romas in 2008-09 after completing his high school career and before being drafted by Milwaukee.

House, who was signed as a free agent during the offseason, appeared in one game for the Wizards this season. He missed 39 games with a fractured right wrist and 10 games on assignment to the D-League.

Nets trade Bojan Bogdanovic and Chris McCullough to Wizards

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has acquired forward Bojan Bogdanovic and forward Chris McCullough from Brooklyn in exchange for forward Andrew Nicholson, guard Marcus Thornton and a 2017 protected first round draft pick.

“Bojan is a very good shooter and a talented overall scorer whose versatility gives us an added dimension as we gear up for the stretch run,” said Grunfeld. “He is a proven starter that will provide us an added boost off the bench and allow us to be creative with our lineups.”

Bogdanovic (6-8, 225, name is pronounced BOY-ahn bog-DON-O-vich) has averaged career-highs of 14.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists this season while shooting .357 (99-277) from three-point range in 55 games (54 starts). He holds career averages of 11.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 212 career games (121 starts) while shooting .441 from the field, .366 from three-point range and .847 from the line in three seasons with Brooklyn. The 31st overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft averaged 11.2 points and 3.2 rebounds while shooting .433 from the field and a career-best .382 from long distance in 79 games (39 starts) last season.

The 27-year-old sharpshooter has scored in double digits 44 times and tallied 20+ points 12 times this season. He played for the Croatian National Team during the 2016 Summer Olympics, leading all scorers with 25.3 points per game while shooting .506 from the field and .450 from three-point range. Bogdanovic was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 9.0 points and shooting .355 from three-point range in his first season (2014-15). Prior to the NBA, he played 160 games for Fenerbache Ulker of the Turkish Basketball League, averaging 13.7 points and 2.3 rebounds.

McCullough (6-9, 215) holds career averages of 3.9 points and 2.2 rebounds while shooting .429 from the field in 11.4 minutes per game. As a rookie in 2015-16, the former 29th overall draft pick averaged 4.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 24 games (four starts). This season, the Syracuse alum has appeared in 14 games with Brooklyn averaging 2.5 points and 1.2 rebounds and has played in 31 games with the Long Island Nets of the D-League where he averaged 18.1 points and 7.7 rebounds to earn 2017 D-League All-Star honors.

“We feel Chris is an intriguing prospect as a first-round pick who was recently named a D-League All-Star,” said Grunfeld. “He has high potential and we look forward to our staff continuing his development.”

Nicholson has appeared in 28 games with Washington this season after signing with the team as a free agent on July 7, 2016, recording averages of 2.5 points and 1.2 rebounds in 8.3 minutes per game. Prior to joining the Wizards, Nicholson spent the first four seasons of his NBA career (2012-16) with the Orlando Magic, appearing in 247 games and posting averages of 6.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game. The 27-year-old native of Mississauga, Ontario was originally selected with the 19th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by Orlando after a standout four-year career at St. Bonaventure University, where he earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Year honors, as well as All-American Honorable Mention, while leading the Bonnies to their first-ever Atlantic 10 Tournament title in his senior season.

Thornton has appeared in 483 career games with New Orleans, Sacramento, Brooklyn, Boston, Phoenix, Houston and Washington, recording averages of 11.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 23.4 minutes per game. In 33 games this season with Washington, Thornton has averaged 6.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17.4 minutes per game.

“We thank Andrew and Marcus for their professionalism and their contributions to our team,” said Grunfeld. “We wish them both the best moving forward in their careers.”