Category: Washington Wizards Blog

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Wizards sign Jules Bernard to two-way contract, waive John Butler Jr.

The Washington Wizards have signed guard Jules Bernard to a two-way contract.

And in a corresponding move, the team waived John Butler Jr.

Bernard has played in 39 games with the Capital City Go-Go over the past two seasons after being acquired via trade from the Motor City Cruise on December 23, 2022. Bernard finished the 2022-23 campaign appearing in 32 games for Capital City, averaging 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Bernard next appeared in the 2023 NBA Summer League and 2023 training camp with the Wizards before starting the season with the Go-Go. In eight games with Capital City this season, Bernard is averaging 21.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, with shooting splits of .475 from the field, .422 from three and .914 from the free throw line.

The UCLA product spent four years with the Bruins, averaging 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 130 career games. He went undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft before signing with the Detroit Pistons and eventually joining the Motor City Cruise to begin the 2022-23 season.

Wizards get first win in a while, beat Pistons 126-107

The Wizards have now won nine straight games against the Pistons, extending the second-longest win streak against Detroit in series history (longest is 13, 2/10/68 – 1/22/70).

Washington has now claimed four straight road contests against Detroit. This marks the teams’ longest road win streak in series history (previously three games in a row from 3/7/80-1/15/81).

Washington connected at a .929 clip (26-28) from the free throw line as a team.

Washington amassed 46 bench points, outscoring Detroit 46 to 31 in that category. The Wizards have now tallied 40+ points from off the bench in three straight games.

Washington forward Kyle Kuzma scored a game-high 32 points on 10-of-23 shooting (10-11 FT), also grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out eight assists for his team-leading fourth double-double of the season.

Wizards forward Deni Avdija amassed 16 points (6-9 FG), six rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes of action.

Washington forward Danilo Gallinari tallied 16 points (5-8 FG) in 19 minutes from off the bench, knocking down 3-of-6 three-point field goals and adding two rebounds and two assists.

Wizards restructure their coaching staff for 2023-24 NBA season

The Washington Wizards recently announced their restructured coaching staff for the 2023-24 season under Head Coach Wes Unseld Jr.

“With the additions we’ve made during the offseason and the personnel that we have returning, I’m very confident that we have assembled a top-notch staff that will prioritize and facilitate internal growth and development for all of our players,” said Unseld Jr. “We are all looking forward to working as a group as we begin training camp next week.”

The Wizards added Brian Keefe and David Vanterpool as assistant coaches and Sammy Gelfand as assistant coach/analytics during the offseason, all of whom come to Washington with over 10 years of experience in the NBA. Keefe, Vanterpool and Gelfand will join returning staff Joseph Blair, Mike Miller, Zach Guthrie and James Posey.

Washington’s increased focus on player development will be led by Landon Tatum, who spent last season as associate head coach of the Capital City Go-Go. He will be joined by player development assistants Ryan Lumpkin, Joe Ajike and Pete Fusilero. Daniel Villarreal will serve as Washington’s head video coordinator along with assistant video coordinator Addison Lee.

In other recent staff additions, Cody Toppert was named head coach of the Capital City Go-Go, the Wizards’ NBA G League affiliate.

Wizards re-sign Taj Gibson

The Washington Wizards have re-signed forward/center Taj Gibson.

“Taj has earned his reputation as a consummate professional and loyal teammate,” said Wizards General Manager Will Dawkins. “We look forward to him adding to the competitive atmosphere when we begin training camp next month.”

Gibson returns to the Wizards after averaging 3.4 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in 49 appearances (two starts) last season. He holds career averages of 8.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game in 945 games (449 starts) with Chicago, Oklahoma City, Minnesota, New York and Washington. The 14-year NBA veteran owns a career .518 field goal percentage and has shot at least .500 from the field in each of the past nine seasons (including a career-best .627 in 2020-21).

On Jordan Poole, Kyle Kuzma and the Wizards offense

Per NBC Sports Washington:

One aspect of the Wizards that could add intrigue and potentially make for a fun 2023-24 season is the unknown element of what they will be. The team was significantly reshaped this summer, namely with the trades sending Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis elsewhere.

What is arguably fairly clear, however, is that Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma are set up to be focal points in the Wizards’ offense. They both averaged 20-plus points per game last season and they also happen to be the highest-paid players on the team. The odds appear good; those two will be the Wizards’ top scorers this season…

Get ready to see a lot of threes from Poole and Kuzma, as both of them were top-20 last season among qualified players in 3-point attempts per game. They combined to take over 15 threes per game with Poole at 7.8 attempts per contest and Kuzma at 7.5. The Wizards as a team averaged 31.7 3-point shots last season and Poole and Kuzma could account for about half that number all by themselves. Only once in Wizards franchise history have they featured two players who averaged at least 7.0 threes attempted per game (2019-20: Beal, Davis Bertans).

FULL ARTICLE

Washington Wizards 2023-24 preseason schedule

The Washington Wizards announced today the team’s four-game 2023 preseason schedule, which features two home games at Capital One Arena.

Washington will host the Cairns Taipans of the Australian National Basketball League at Capital One Arena on Tuesday, Oct. 10, to tip off the 2023 preseason slate and will follow that with a visit from the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday, Oct. 12. The Wizards will conclude preseason play with a two-game trip with visits to New York on Oct. 18 and Toronto on Oct. 20. The team will begin regular season play on Oct. 25 at Indiana and will host the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 28 for the home opener.

Wizards sign guard Jared Butler to two-way contract

The Washington Wizards have signed guard Jared Butler to a two-way contract.

Butler (6-3, 195) has appeared in 48 career NBA games (two starts) with the Oklahoma City Thunder (2022-23) and Utah Jazz (2021-22), recording career averages of 4.1 points and 1.5 assists in 9.1 minutes per game.

Butler appeared in six games (one start) for the Thunder last season, averaging 6.2 points and 1.3 assists while shooting .469 from the field and .500 from three-point range. He also played in 27 games (all starts) with the Grand Rapids Gold and Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League during the 2022-23 season, posting averages of 16.7 points, 6.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Originally selected with the 40th overall pick by Utah in the 2021 NBA Draft out of Baylor University, Butler averaged 3.8 points and 1.5 assists in 42 games (one start) with the Jazz in 2021-22 while also posting 18.3 points and 6.0 assists in three games for the Salt Lake City Stars, the team’s NBA G League affiliate. He was the first consensus All-America First Team selection in Baylor history after leading the Bears to the 2021 NCAA National Championship.

Wizards trade Monte Morris to Pistons

The Detroit Pistons have acquired guard Monte Morris in a trade with the Washington Wizards for future draft considerations.

The Wizards acquired a 2027 second round pick from Detroit (the more favorable of the picks from Brooklyn and Dallas that Detroit previously acquired).

Washington also generated a traded player exception in the deal.

Morris, 6-2, 183, averaged 10.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 27.3 minutes per game while shooting 48% from the field and 38.2% from 3-point range with the Wizards last season. His 5.3 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game marked single-season career-highs and his 5.43 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked second in the NBA during the 2022-23 season. Since entering the league in 2017-18, Morris’ career 48.1% field goal percentage ranks eighth-best among all guards in the NBA (min. 2000 field goal attempts).

Drafted 51st overall by Denver in the 2017 NBA Draft, Morris played five seasons for the Nuggets and averaged 10.5 points and 4.0 assists in 25.2 minutes per game while shooting 39.4% from behind-the-arc. The Flint, Mich., native played four seasons at Iowa State University where he was a three-time All-Big 12 selection. In high school, Morris led Flint Beecher to back-to-back Class C Michigan state titles in 2012 and 2013 and won Michigan’s Mr. Basketball award in 2013.

Three-team NBA trade sends Kristaps Porzingis to Celtics, Marcus Smart to Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, June 23 acquired guard Marcus Smart from the Boston Celtics in a three-team trade also including the Washington Wizards.

As part of the deal, the Grizzlies traded guard Tyus Jones to the Wizards and traded the draft rights to guard Marcus Sasser (25th overall) and a future first round draft pick to the Celtics.

Washington traded center Kristaps Porzingis to Boston for forward Danilo Gallinari, center Mike Muscala and the draft rights to forward Julian Phillips (35th overall).

A nine-year NBA veteran, Smart (6-3, 220) has competed in 581 regular season games (360 starts) and has averaged 10.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals in 30.0 minutes since he was selected by the Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft out of Oklahoma State. The 29-year-old Texas native holds career playoff averages of 12.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.3 steals in 33.1 minutes in 108 games (73 starts), helping the Celtics make three trips to the conference finals and advance to the 2022 NBA Finals.

“Tyus, Danilo and Mike are talented players accustomed to winning,” said Wizards General Manager Will Dawkins. “They bring professionalism, high basketball intelligence, and a team-first mentality. We are delighted they are Wizards.”

Jones, an eight-year NBA guard, is coming off a career season with Memphis, where he set career highs in points (10.3), rebounds (2.5) and assists (5.2) per game in 80 games played (22 starts). On the season, Jones dished 417 assists, the second-most for Memphis, to just 74 turnovers, giving him the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA last season at 5.63. He has appeared in 535 career games with Minnesota and Memphis and holds career averages of 6.8 points, 3.9 assists and 1.9 rebounds per game.

Gallinari was drafted sixth overall by the New York Knicks in 2008 and has also played with Denver, the L.A. Clippers, Oklahoma City and Atlanta in his 13-year NBA career. He signed with the Celtics during the 2022 offseason before suffering a season-ending left ACL injury while playing for the Italian national team in a FIBA World Cup qualifier in August. Gallinari last appeared during the 2021-22 season with the Atlanta Hawks, where he averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in 66 games. He holds career averages of 15.6 points and 4.8 rebounds over 728 games while shooting .382 from three-point range.

Muscala is a 10-year NBA veteran that has played for Atlanta, Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City and Boston. He holds career averages of 6.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting .457 from the field and .379 from three-point range. Muscala was traded from Oklahoma City to Boston at the 2023 trade deadline and played 20 games for the Celtics to close the season, shooting .472 from the field and .385 from beyond the arc in 16.2 minutes per game.

Porzingis, who was originally acquired by Washington at the 2022 trade deadline from the Dallas Mavericks, averaged 22.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 blocks per game in 82 total games with the Wizards.

“Kristaps is a true professional and an exceptionally talented player who established a lasting reputation during his time with the organization,” said Dawkins. “We thank him for his meaningful contributions and we wish him great success in Boston.”