Washington Wizards Blog – Page 61 – NBA Blog

Wizards sign Hilton Armstrong

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed center Hilton Armstrong to a free agent contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.

“Hilton brings what we were looking for in a backup center for our roster,” said Grunfeld. “He is a defensive-minded, skilled big man who will be able to provide consistent minutes and step in to fill a larger role when necessary.”

Armstrong (6-11, 235), the 12th overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft (by New Orleans), holds career averages of 3.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in 224 games (37 starts over four professional seasons with New Orleans, Sacramento and Houston. He registered career-highs of 4.8 points (.561 field goal percentage) and 2.8 rebounds per game in 70 games (29 starts) during the 2008-09 season with the Hornets. A former Big East Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big East performer, Armstrong also helped the University of Connecticut to the NCAA championship as a sophomore.

Mavericks re-sign Brendan Haywood

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have re-signed center Brendan Haywood. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. We’ll add contract details later today.

Haywood (7-0, 263) re-signs with the Mavericks after originally being acquired in a seven-player trade with Washington that also brought Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson to Dallas on Feb. 13, 2010. Following the trade, during which time the Mavericks posted a 23-7 record, Haywood averaged 8.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 26.5 minutes in 28 games (19 starts). The eight-year veteran finished the season with averages of 9.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.1 blocks (fourth in NBA) and 30.6 minutes in 77 games.

Last season, Haywood became only the third player in the last 20 years to record 20-rebound games with two different teams in a single season after coming down with 20 boards vs. Indiana on Feb. 22 and 20 at Chicago as a member of the Wizards on Jan. 15.

Drafted by Washington out of the University of North Carolina in 2001, Haywood played 579 games for the Wizards and left as the franchise’s longest-tenured player. He ranked third all-time in franchise history in field goal percentage, fourth all-time in blocked shots and sixth all-time in rebounds and games played.

The Greensboro, N.C., native holds career averages of 7.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in 607 contests (469 starts).

Bulls trade Kirk Hinrich to Wizards

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has acquired guard Kirk Hinrich, the draft rights of first round pick Kevin Seraphin and cash considerations from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for the rights to Vladimir Veremeenko (a second-round draft pick of the Wizards in 2006).

“We are excited to add Kirk and Kevin to our team, as their acquisition significantly bolsters our roster,” said Grunfeld. “Kirk will provide another solid veteran presence to our backcourt and bring playoff-tested toughness, defense and leadership. Kevin is a talented young player with tremendous size and physicality, and we are looking forward to helping him reach his full potential.”

“During this free agency period, we wanted to aggressively position ourselves to explore every avenue possible to improve our team. That said, it was not an easy decision for us trade Kirk, but one that we felt was necessary in order to make the Chicago Bulls a better basketball team,” said Chicago Bulls General Manager Gar Forman. “Since Kirk joined us back in 2003, he came to play every time he stepped on the court and he always gave 100 percent. We will miss Kirk and wish him the best of luck.”

Veremeenko (6-10, 230), is a 25-year old native of Gomel, Belarus. Selected in the second round (48th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards, Veremeenko spent the 2009-10 season with Unics Kazan (Russia-A Superleague).

Seraphin (6-9, 264), was drafted by Chicago in the first round (17th selection) in the 2010 NBA Draft. The 20-year forward played last season with Cholet Basket in France.

Hinrich, selected by Chicago in the first round (seventh overall) in the 2003 NBA Draft, spent the last seven seasons with the Bulls. In 514 career games (433 starts) with Chicago, Hinrich averaged 13.4 ppg, 5.8 apg, 3.4 rpg, 1.27 spg, 34.1 mpg and shot .415 from the field, .379 from behind the arc and .809 from the line. He also played in 34 playoff games with the Bulls and averaged 15.3 ppg, 5.8 apg, 3.7 rpg, 1.41 spg, 35.8 mpg and shot .421 from the field, .405 from downtown and .757 from the line.

Hinrich leaves the Bulls ranking first in team history in three-point field goals made (812), first in three-point field goals attempted (2,144), fourth in assists (3,004), fourth in steals (655), fifth in turnovers (1,116), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.379), sixth in disqualifications (30), seventh in minutes played (17,502), eighth in points (6,902) and 10th in field goals made (2,510).

Clippers meet with Mike Miller

Frank Burlison of the Los Angeles Daily News reports:

Some 24 hours after meeting with the star of the most publicized period of free agency in NBA history, the Clippers had another discussion with a member of the class Saturday.

Mike Miller, a 6-foot-8, 30-year-old forward who averaged 10.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game with the Washington Wizards during his 10th season in the league, met with team president Andy Roeser and general manager Neil Olshey at the team’s complex…

Miller, who hit .480 on 3-pointers and .501 overall, averaged a career-best 18.5 points per game for Memphis during the 2007-08 season.

Gilbert Arenas new jersey number is 9

CSN Washington reports:

Washington Wizards Gilbert Arenas has chosen a new number for the 2010-2011 season. Arenas is listed as No.9 on the Wizard’s website.

Agent Zero wanted to change his jersey from No. 0, a number he has worn since college, in hopes for a fresh start and a new image after a tumultuous season of a 50-game suspension and a felony conviction for bringing guns into the locker room.

InsideHoops.com editor says:

There are only a small number of gun names/references that pretty much everyone knows. Bigger guns like an Ak-47, M-16. A medium-sized one like an Uzi. And smaller ones like a 45 or a 9. That’s all I can think of. So, really, is 9 the best choice for a guy who was just suspended for gun-related issues?

Anyway, I don’t care much about jersey numbers. I’m about basketball. So, here’s hoping that Gilbert has a great return to the NBA. The combo of John Wall at point and Arenas as a scoring guard should be terrific to watch and that’s what I’ll be anticipating next season.

John Wall to wear jersey #2

The AP reports:

The Washington Wizards’ No. 1 overall draft pick announced Wednesday night on Twitter his choice of jersey for the start of his NBA career.

Wall made the simple post: “I picked to wear (number symbol)2 for nxt yr”. He offered no immediate explanation, although the easy interpretation is that he added up the digits of the number he wore at the University of Kentucky.

Nets trade Yi Jianlian to Wizards for Quinton Ross

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has acquired forward Yi Jianlian and cash considerations from the New Jersey Nets in exchange for guard/forward Quinton Ross.

“This trade is a good opportunity to add a skilled seven-footer with significant NBA experience who was the sixth overall pick in the draft just three years ago,” said Grunfeld. “Yi fits in very well with our ongoing plan of building towards the future with a core of young, talented players.”

Yi averaged career highs of 12.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 52 games (51 starts) last season with New Jersey. The seven-foot native of China holds career averages of 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in 179 games (152 starts) in three seasons with Milwaukee and New Jersey.

Originally selected by the Bucks with the sixth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, Yi was traded to New Jersey along with Bobby Simmons in exchange for Richard Jefferson prior to the 2008-09 season. He averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds as a rookie and was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for December. Yi followed his rookie campaign by averaging 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds with the Nets in 2008-09. Prior to entering the draft, he led Guangdong to the Chinese Basketball Association title and competed for the Chinese National Team in the 2008 and 2004 Olympics.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Yi didn’t do much in New Jersey aside from frustrating teammate Brook Lopez by making various defensive mistakes. But he’s still a young player who can score and move around decently on offense. His passing, physical strength and defense is still a work in progress.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Andray Blatche out 3 months

Wizards forward Andray Blatche underwent successful surgery this evening to repair a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. The procedure was performed by Dr. Ed Magur at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Blatche is expected to take approximately three months to return to basketball-related activities.

In the 2009-10 NBA season, Blatche for the Wizards averaged 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Wolves, Wizards trade rookies

The Minnesota Timberwolves tonight acquired the draft rights to Marquette forward Lazar Hayward, the 30th overall pick, and Serbian forward Nemanja Bjelica, the 35th overall pick, from the Washington Wizards in exchange for the draft rights to Clemson forward Trevor Booker, the 23rd overall pick, and Hamady N’diaye, the 56th overall pick. Additionally, Minnesota selected center Paulao Prestes from Brazil with the 45th overall pick.

Hayward, a 6-6 forward, started 118 of his 138 games at Marquette, averaging 13.5 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from behind the arc. The second all-time leading scorer in Marquette history with 1,859 career points, Hayward played in a school-record 138 games and earned Second Team All-Big East and Honorable Mention AP All-American honors as a senior. He was recently named Most Outstanding Player at the 2010 NABC All-Star Game.

Bjelica, a 6-10 forward from Serbia, averaged 9.9 points per game in 20 appearances last season for KK Crvena Zvezda in the Adriatic League, and improved to 20.2 points per game in six appearances in the Serbia A League. He was also the leading rebounder on the silver medal-winning Serbian National Team in Eurobasket 2009 last fall.

Prestes, a 6-11 center, currently plays for CB Murcia in the Spanish ACB League. The native of Brazil averaged 9.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in the Spanish ACB league this season while shooting 57.4 percent from the field. On a per minute basis, Prestes is the top rebounder in his league.

Earlier tonight, the Wolves selected Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson with the 4th overall pick in the draft. Minnesota also acquired Portland Trail Blazers guard/forward Martell Webster in exchange for forward Ryan Gomes and the draft rights to Luke Babbitt.

Bulls will trade Kirk Hinrich to Wizards

Ric Bucher of ESPN The Magazine reports:

Bulls will trade Kirk Hinrich, draft pick #17 to Wizards

The Chicago Bulls have a deal in place that would move Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick to the Washington Wizards, freeing up enough cap space to pursue two maximum-salary players on this summer’s free-agent market, sources with knowledge of the Bulls’ plans said Thursday.

It wasn’t immediately clear what Washington would send to Chicago in the trade.

The deal can’t be officially consummated until July 8, when the Wizards will have room under the salary cap to absorb Hinrich’s $9 million contract without having to send back anything of similar value.