Washington Wizards Blog – Page 25 – NBA Blog

Ian Mahinmi returns for Wizards, then gets hurt

Just one game after making his regular season debut, Ian Mahinmi is back on the Wizards’ injury list.

On Monday, Mahinmi, 30, missed Washington’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings. According to Coach Scott Brooks, Mahinmi, who appeared for 14 minutes Saturday night, is experiencing soreness in his right, non-surgical knee. Mahinmi missed the past six weeks after the repair of a partially torn medial mensicus in his left knee. Mahinmi did not participate in the team’s Monday morning shoot-around.

“Just going to be cautious,” Brooks said. “He’s done a great job of putting himself in a position to come back from surgery and he’s just been sore the last couple of days. It’s day to day. We’ll see how feels tomorrow.”

— Washington Post

Quick Take: The Wizards are 5-10 through Sunday’s games. Their scoring leaders this season are John Wall (23.5 ppg), Bradley Beal (20.1 ppg), Otto Porter Jr (14.7 ppg), Markieff Morris (12.8 ppg) and Marcin Gortat (11.3 ppg). Their offense has been average this season but defensively they need improvement.

Bradley Beal fined for grabbing at throat of Evan Fournier

Wizards guard Bradley Beal has been fined $15,000 for grabbing at the throat of Orlando Magic guard/forward Evan Fournier, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, for which Beal was assessed a technical foul, occurred with 7:40 remaining to play in the fourth quarter of the Wizards’ 94-91 win over the Magic on Nov. 25 at Amway Center.

To view the incident, click on this link.

Wizards assign Danuel House to D-League

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that forward Danuel House has been assigned to the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League, pursuant to the flexible assignment rule.

House has appeared in one game this season for Washington. He was originally signed as a free agent by the Wizards on July 15, 2016.

John Wall fined $25,000 by NBA

The Wizards are off to a 1-5 start (through Tuesday’s games) and some frustration may be mounting.

Wizards guard John Wall has been fined $25,000 for inappropriate interaction with a game official and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Wall was ejected for receiving his second technical of the game with 33.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the Wizards’ 114-106 loss to the Houston Rockets on Nov. 7 at Verizon Center.

Wizards waive Jarell Eddie, Casper Ware and Johnny O’Bryant

The Washington Wizards announced today that the team has waived guards Jarell Eddie and Casper Ware and forward Johnny O’Bryant. The Wizards’ roster now stands at 15 players.

Eddie tallied three points in three appearances during the 2016 preseason, while Ware played in one game and scored eight points and O’Bryant averaged 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds in four contests.

Ian Mahinmi out 4-6 weeks due to knee injury

Wizards center Ian Mahinmi has suffered a partially torn medial meniscus in his left knee. The injury occurred in Thursday’s game against the Sixers. An MRI performed on Friday revealed the partial tear. On Friday evening, Mahinmi underwent successful surgery.

The procedure was performed by team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Wiemi Douoguih of MedStar at Washington Hospital Center.

Mahinmi is expected to miss approximately four to six weeks.

Playing for the Pacers last season, Mahinmi averaged 9.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 25.6 minutes per game.

No, Bradley Beal does not enjoy getting hurt

Wizards guard Bradley Beal played 56 games as a rookie, 73 games in his second season, 63 in his third, and 55 in his fourth. Staying healthy would probably be quite enjoyable for him. Here’s the Washington Post reporting:

During the Wednesday practice, Beal caught an inadvertent elbow from center Ian Mahinmi, who was stripped of the ball, his arms flailing, and “my head was in the way,” as Beal recalled…

“People make it seem like I’m trying to get hurt, you know what I’m saying?” Beal said. “I’m not here, like: ‘Oh, hit me in the head on this play!’ Nah, it just happens. Anybody can be in that position, so that’s not going to stop me from being aggressive and continuing to play hard.”

Tomas Satoransky impressing in Wizards camp

NBA training camps have opened, and preseason starts Saturday. Basketball is coming. At Wizards training camp, there’s a new name worth paying some attention to. Here’s CSN Washington:

The surprise for the Wizards isn’t that John Wall could be back sooner than later. Or that Kelly Oubre stands a chance at winning the starting job at small forward. It’s rookie Tomas Satoransky, who not only has freakish athleticism but a basketball IQ that caught all of his teammates off-guard.

“For me it was Tomas,” said Otto Porter when asked who has wowed him the most. “I’d seen a couple highlights of him playing but actually getting out here playing with him to actually be on his team? One time I was cutting through, he hit me on the back of the shoulder (with the ball). I wasn’t looking for it. I was like, ‘OK, this kid knows how to play.’”

But what has really set apart the European, a 2012 second-round pick for the Wizards who signed a three-year deal for just $9 million this summer, is his flair for the drama. In a pick-up game before training camp started this week, he got the ball in the open court and did something that brought a hush over the practice court.

Wizards re-sign Marcus Thornton

The Wizards have re-signed guard Marcus Thornton.

“Marcus is a proven veteran who gives us experience and scoring off the bench and will add depth at the two-guard position,” said Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld.

Starting for the Wizards in the backcourt are John Wall at point guard and Bradley Beal at shooting guard.

Thornton averaged 8.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16.0 minutes per game in 14 contests with the Wizards last season after being signed as a free agent on March 9. He scored 10+ points on five different occasions and led the team in scoring twice. The 6-4 LSU product holds career averages of 12.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting .426 from the field and .359 from three-point range in 450 career games (134 starts) over seven seasons with New Orleans, Sacramento, Brooklyn, Boston, Phoenix, Houston and Washington.

Thornton averaged 14.7 points over his first four NBA seasons, including a career-best 18.7 points per game for the Kings in 2011-12, and has averaged at least 9.7 ppg in six of his seven full NBA seasons. He was drafted 43rd overall by the Heat in 2009 after playing two seasons at LSU and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 14.5 points in his first season (09-10).

Wizards re-sign Bradley Beal

The Wizards on Tuesday re-signed shooting guard Bradley Beal.

According to CSN Mid-Atlantic, the deal is a five-year max contract worth $128 million.

“Bradley has proven himself as one of the top young shooting guards in the league, and we feel that he has the potential to rise to an elite level as he enters the prime of his career as one of the cornerstones of our team,” Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld said. “He is an outstanding member of the community and a great example of the type of player and person we want to represent our franchise.”

Beal has averaged 16.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting .426 from the field and .397 from three-point range in 247 games (213 starts) in his four seasons with the Wizards.

Last season, he averaged a career-high 17.4 points and shot a career-high .449 from the field to go along with 3.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and a .387 three-point percentage in 55 games (35 starts) for Washington. In 2014-15, he finished ninth in the NBA in three-point percentage (.409) and he set the Wizards rookie record with 91 threes made in 2012-13. He currently ranks fourth among the team’s all-time leaders in threes made (440) and fifth all-time in three-point percentage (.397).

In 21 playoff appearances, Beal holds averages of 21.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals and has led the team in scoring during both of his playoff runs (19.2 ppg over 11 games in 2014 and 23.4 ppg over 10 games in 2015). He joins Magic Johnson as the only other player in NBA history to average at least 19 points, five rebounds and 4.5 assists in multiple playoff appearances before the age of 22 and ranks fourth in NBA history with 10 games of 20+ points before the age of 22 (behind LeBron James, Tony Parker and Kobe Bryant).