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Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Mustafa Shakur. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.
Shakur will be signed for the remainder of the season after being signed to two separate 10-day contracts earlier in the season (first on January 22 and then on February 12). He averaged 3.3 points and 2.2 assists in six games during that stretch.
Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has waived guard Mike Bibby after coming to a mutual agreement on a contract buyout.
“We agreed to terms with Mike on a buyout of his contract, which gives us increased financial flexibility and opens up more opportunities for us to continue to develop and evaluate our younger players,” said Grunfeld.
Bibby was acquired by the Wizards on February 23 along with Maurice Evans, Jordan Crawford and a 2011 first round pick from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong. He appeared in two games for the Wizards, totaling two points and eight assists.
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The Atlanta Hawks tonight acquired guard Kirk Hinrich and center/forward Hilton Armstrong from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Mike Bibby, Maurice Evans, Jordan Crawford and a draft pick, according to Hawks Executive Vice President/General Manager Rick Sund.
“We felt we had a good opportunity to improve our ballclub by adding Kirk and Hilton,” Sund said. “Kirk is a well-rounded player that gives us options at both guard positions. In addition to being a solid and hard-nosed defender, he is a good shooter who can also distribute the ball. His resume includes significant playoff experience as well. Hilton can play both center and power forward, and will add frontcourt depth.”
“I sincerely want to thank Mike, Mo and Jordan for their contributions both on and off the court in Atlanta, and wish them well in the future.”
In his eighth NBA season, Hinrich was averaging 11.1 ppg, 4.4 apg (tied for 29th in the NBA), 2.7 rpg and 1.3 spg in 30.6 mpg (.452 FG%, .384 3FG%, .876 FT%) with the Wizards, appearing in 48 contests (29 starting assignments).
Taken with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft by Chicago, Hinrich spent his first seven pro seasons with the Bulls before being traded to Washington on July 8, 2010 along with the draft rights to Kevin Seraphin in exchange for the draft rights to Vladimir Veremeenko. With career averages of 13.2 ppg, 5.7 apg, 3.3 rpg and 1.3 spg (.417 FG%, .379 3FG%, .814 FT%), Hinrich has played in 562 career regular season games (462 starts). In 34 playoff contests (27 starts), he has averaged 15.3 ppg, 5.8 apg, 3.7 rpg and 1.4 spg (.421 FG%, .405 3FG%, .757 FT%).
Named to the NBA’s All-Defensive second team in 2007, he is Chicago’s all-time leader in three-pointers made (812) and attempted (2,144), while ranking fourth in team history in assists (3,004) and steals (655). The former Kansas University standout was teammates with Joe Johnson on the 2006 USA Men’s World Championship Team. Kirk James Hinrich was born January 2, 1981 in Sioux City, Iowa.
Armstrong saw action in 41 games (two starts) for the Wizards this season, his first in Washington, averaging 1.9 ppg and 2.8 rpg (.484 FG%, .609 FT%). The fifth-year pro was drafted in the first round (12th overall) by New Orleans in the 2006 NBA Draft and spent his first three-plus seasons with the Hornets. Armstrong also played for Sacramento and Houston during the 2009-10 season. The 6-11 University of Connecticut product owns career averages of 3.2 ppg and 2.6 rpg (.502 FG%, .603 FT%) in 265 games (39 starts). He has also seen action in 12 career playoff games, putting up 3.0 ppg and 2.3 rpg (.538 FG%, .400 FT%). Hilton A. Armstrong Jr. was born November 23, 1984 in Peekskill, NY.
Bibby started 56 games this season for the Hawks, posting averages of 9.4 ppg, 3.6 apg and 2.6 rpg (.435 FG%, .441 3FG%, .630 FT%). He appeared in 248 regular season games and 29 playoff contests as a Hawk after being acquired by Atlanta from the Sacramento Kings on February 16, 2008, and re-signed on July 13, 2009.
Signed by the Hawks as a free agent on July 29, 2008, Evans has played in 47 games (12 starts) this season, posting averages of 4.5 ppg and 1.8 rpg (.393 FG%, .315 3FG%, .857 FT%). In his three years with in Atlanta, Evans has seen action in 206 regular season contests, and 22 playoff games (starting eight).
Acquired by the Hawks on draft night 2010 (June 24) from the New Jersey Nets after being selected 27th overall from Xavier University, Crawford has totaled 4.2 ppg and 1.8 rpg (.351 FG%, .333 3FG%, .667 FT%) in 16 contests.
Getting to play the Cavaliers tends to cure whatever ills an NBA team tends to have.
After breaking their 26-game losing streak to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, the Cavs immediately returned to their losing ways and got dropped in dramatic fashion by the Wizards Sunday.
The Wizards were 0-25 on the road coming into this game.
The AP reports:
Nick Young scored 31 points, John Wall had 19 points and 14 assists and Washington snapped its 25-game road winless streak with a 115-100 win Sunday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who reverted to their losing ways one game after ending their record skid.
The Wizards opened a 25-point lead in the third quarter, survived a Cleveland comeback and got their first road win since April 9 at Boston.
Antawn Jamison scored 21 and J.J. Hickson added 16 and 13 rebounds for the Cavs, who stopped their losing streak at 26 on Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers but failed to post back-to-back wins for the second time this season.
Washington finished four losses shy of matching the league’s longest losing streak to start a season, 29 in a row by the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks.
Blown out and embarrassed in a 118-94 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, the Wizards came out focused on getting a win outside D.C.’s city limits. They started 9 of 11 from the field and opened a 17-point lead in the first quarter on Young’s second straight three-point play.
The Cavs were down 68-46 at the half, showed some life in the third quarter but never seriously threatened the Wizards.
Point guard Mo Williams, who recently returned for Cleveland, struggled tonight, but should be worth watching over the next few games as he regains form.
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Mustafa Shakur to a second 10-day contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.
Shakur originally signed with Washington on January 22.
In four games for the Wizards, Shakur averaged 3.5 points and 3.0 assists per game.
Friday night the Washington Wizards lost to the Orlando Magic, 110-92. Here’s what various members of the Wizards said after the game:
WIZARDS HEAD COACH FLIP SAUNDERS
On Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic’s play tonight: “Howard was so effective. He really got going early, but when it really came down to it, as I said earlier before the game, the people that decided how the game was going were the other four. Howard had a lot of his points early in the first half of that, but the situation as far as what Redick did, Ryan Anderson, what those guys did when the game was close, Richardson, the 3’s that those guys hit. That pushed us from a competitive game to a game where they were able to basically close it out.”
On John Wall being ejected from the game: “I think he’s frustrated. He is getting knocked down a lot. I think he is getting knocked down and he is not getting many calls when he goes to the basket.”
On how he felt his team played: “Our bench was great tonight. Booker was great. He had great energy, playing with a great amount of enthusiasm. Hinrich was great tonight.”
WIZARDS GUARD JOHN WALL
On whether the team came out in third without energy: “I don’t know. Sometimes in the third quarter we come out good, and sometimes we don’t. We’ve got to figure out a way to come out good every game. Some games you might be down 15. I think those are the games you really come out aggressive, when we’re down. When we’re close or we are up, we come out lackadaisical. We’ve got to learn how to switch it around.”
WIZARDS FORWARD RASHARD LEWIS
On the tough stretch of games: “We’ve played some good teams. Some of the ball games we’ve been in and some games we haven’t been in. Playing some of the top teams, you have to put 48 minutes together. I thought we’ve only been playing a half over three quarters. Against top team, you have to play for 48 minutes to beat them.”
On putting the game behind them: “We have to put that game behind us immediately, almost like right now as we speak. Now we have to be focused on Josh Smith, Al Horford, Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby. We have to get ready for those guys. If we come in thinking about the Orlando Magic, we’ll be facing another loss if we don’t get ourselves prepared for the Atlanta Hawks.”
WIZARDS FORWARD TREVOR BOOKER
On becoming a crowd favorite: “I just try to come in and bring energy, bring energy to the team and bring energy to the crowd. For the most part I think I’m starting to do it.”
On being surprised by his big plays: “Maybe a little, but I know what I’m capable of. It just gets me excited every time I do it.”
WIZARDS GUARD NICK YOUNG
On the game: “My shots weren’t really falling for me tonight. Things didn’t turn out good for us. Kirk (Hinrich) really carried us tonight and Rashard (Lewis) and Yi (Jialian) had a good game as well. There was a lot of good energy in the building tonight, it was good to see a packed house with a lot of fans but disappointingly we lost. We came out trying our best but our shots were not falling through for us tonight. We just have to put this game behind us and move on to tomorrow’s game.”
On Gil’s return: “He was talking to me throughout the game but I really didn’t hear too much, I was keeping my focus. He came in as regular Gil, doing what he does best with us and the bench but we tried to look past it.”
WIZARDS GUARD KIRK HINRICH
On the game: “Coming off the injury I think I’m getting a lot better and hopefully not have any issues for the rest of the season. I don’t think we came out great in the second half and it looks like we are still struggling on the pick and rolls. It was a tough matchup because they are able to spread the floor with Dwight (Howard) in the middle. We didn’t do a good job of stopping them. We were just trying to get something going but we couldn’t get the stops going or get our shots down.
On the current stretch of games: “It is tough because the opponents are good but this is the NBA, and everybody has good players. We are playing some really good teams in this stretch but we really need a more consistent effort.”
WIZARDS FORWARD ANDRAY BLATCHE
On losing at home after long trip: “It was very disappointing. We always play well at home and we always take care of home. On the bright side, we have a game tomorrow. We’re going to come out and be aggressive and pull one out tomorrow.”
On Booker’s performance: “That was huge coming off the bench. He’s been playing great lately, period. That’s what we are going to need from him and Yi to back up me and JaVale. That kind of effort and that kind of play is huge for us.”
The Washington Wizards’ John Wall and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin today were named the Eastern and Western Conference NBA Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played through January.
Wall led all Eastern Conference rookies in scoring (13.9 ppg), assists (10.5 apg) and double-doubles in the month. He also became the first rookie in NBA history to have nine or more assists in 10 straight games. In addition, Wall’s 168 assists in the month were the most by a rookie since Mark Jackson had 172 assists in 1988.
Griffin led all rookies in scoring (26.0 ppg), rebounding (13.4 rpg) and ranked second in assists (4.4 apg). He became only the fourth rookie over the last 20 seasons to average at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in a calendar month.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month were Detroit’s Greg Monroe, New York’s Landry Fields, Philadelphia’s Evan Turner, Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins and San Antonio’s Gary Neal.
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Mustafa Shakur from the NBA Development League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers to a 10-day contract
Shakur (6-4, 195) has averaged 16.7 points, 5.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds this season through 23 games with Rio Grande Valley. He spent time in training camp with the New Orleans Hornets earlier this season and has previously had stints with Oklahoma City, Sacramento and the D-League’s Tulsa Thunder (where he averaged 19.3 points, 6.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds during the 2009-10 season).
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has waived guard Lester Hudson.
Hudson appeared in 11 games in two separate stints with Washington this season, totaling 18 points and 17 assists in 73 minutes of play.
Hudson was previously signed this season on September 24, waived on November 22, and signed again on December 20.
Washington’s roster currently stands at 14.
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Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that forward Andray Blatche and center JaVale McGee have both been suspended one game for conduct detrimental to the team.
“After further investigation into an incident on Thursday night, we concluded that Andray and JaVale conducted themselves in an unprofessional manner,” said Grunfeld. “As a result, both players will be suspended for tomorrow’s game at San Antonio.”
The AP reports:
The Washington Post said on its website that Blatche and McGee were involved in an altercation outside an area club early Friday. The newspaper reported that two league sources said the players cursed at each other and exchanged punches. The Post said another source said police were called to break up the fight.
