Tag: davis bertans

Mavericks trade Cason Wallace and Davis Bertans to Thunder for Dereck Lively II

The Oklahoma City Thunder has acquired the draft rights to guard Cason Wallace (10th overall) and forward Dāvis Bertāns in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks for the draft rights to Dereck Lively II (12th overall), it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Wallace (6-4, 193) was named to the SEC All-Freshman team this past season after averaging 11.7 points, 4.3 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 32 games at the University of Kentucky. His 63 steals this past season represent the third most by a freshman in Kentucky history.

Bertans (6-10, 225) has appeared in 432 NBA games (40 starts) and averaged 7.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 18.2 minutes per game with the San Antonio Spurs, Washington Wizards and Mavericks.

Lively (7-1, 234) was an early-entry candidate to this year’s draft after spending one season at Duke. In his lone season with the Blue Devils, he averaged 5.2 points (.658 FG%), 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game across 34 appearances. Lively was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and the ACC All-Defensive Team.

“We really love Dereck’s combination of size, shot blocking ability and defensive versatility,” Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison said. “As one of the youngest players in the draft we are looking forward to Dereck growing with the team and fostering his development.”

In his lone year at Duke, Lively blocked 82 shots – only five shy of the NCAA lead. With a 7-4 wingspan, he led all Division I freshmen in blocks and ranked second in the ACC (eighth nationally).

The Philadelphia native was ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the ESPN 100 for the class of 2022 as a five-star center out of Westtown School in West Chester, PA. He was named the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022 after leading Westtown to a 31-7 record and the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship in 2022.

Wizards re-sign forward Davis Bertans to big contract

The Washington Wizards have re-signed free agent forward Davis Bertans.

Per the Washington Post, it’s “a five-year deal worth $80 million”

“We have been adamant that our top offseason priority was to re-sign Davis, so we are thrilled to accomplish that goal and have him on board as part of the winning environment we’re continuing to build,” said Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard. “He is not only an elite shooter, he’s a great addition to our community and we saw last season how his ability to spread the floor, overall basketball IQ and competitive spirit make him an ideal fit for our style of play.”

Bertans averaged career-highs of 15.4 points and 4.5 rebounds in 54 games last season, shooting .424 (200-472) from three-point range. He ranked fourth in the NBA in three-pointers made and sixth in three-point percentage.

“My family and I are very proud to be a part of this first-class organization in a world-class city with great teammates, coaches and fan support,” said Bertans. “All of those factors led to my decision to re-sign with the Wizards, and now I’m looking forward to getting back on the court and back to work so we can keep improving as a team.”

More from the Post: “Bertans arrived in Washington from the San Antonio Spurs via a three-team trade in July 2019 and blossomed into an offensive sparkplug playing with the Wizards’ second unit. He took just 26 games to rack up 100 three-pointers, the fewest games to hit that mark in a season in franchise history. In early February ahead of the trade deadline, the team heard an abundance of offers for the sharpshooter around the same time he participated in the three-point contest during All-Star Weekend in Chicago.”

Bertans’ 15.4 points per game ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring off the bench. He also ranks fourth in NBA history with 187 three-pointers as a reserve and his 200 total three-pointers made ranks fifth-most in a single season in Wizards history. In addition, Bertans became the only player in NBA history to knock down eight or more threes off the bench in three or more games in a single season. He finished the season with 25 games of four or more 3-pointers off the bench, the third-highest total in a single season in NBA history. His 15 games of five or more 3-pointers off the bench are tied for the second-most in a single season in NBA history.

Bertans was originally acquired from San Antonio in a three-team deal with the Spurs and Nets on July 6, 2019, that sent the Wizards’ draft rights to forward Aaron White to Brooklyn with the Spurs acquiring DeMarre Carroll from the Nets.

Wizards to reportedly keep Davis Bertans

It’s a big day for the Wizards. The good news is they reportedly will retain the services of shooter Davis Bertans. It’s a pretty full contract, but that’s for another time. Because the bad news is, star point guard John Wall may want to hit the road. Here’s the Washington Post:

The first few hours of NBA free agency were busy ones for the Washington Wizards. They checked off their top offseason priority and re-signed sharpshooting forward Davis Bertans to a lavish, five-year deal worth $80 million hours after teams were allowed to officially open negotiations, according to a report from ESPN.

But Washington’s dream of having Bertans play alongside Bradley Beal and John Wall may not come to fruition. Wall has made it clear that he wants a trade out of Washington, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. His desire to leave follows a report from the Athletic this week that the Wizards and the Houston Rockets had discussed a deal centering on trading Wall for Russell Westbrook.

Wall’s desire puts Washington in a tricky situation. The 30-year-old, who was expected to play his first basketball game for the Wizards in two years after coming back from an Achilles’ injury, is owed more than $130 million over the next three years.

Wizards forward Davis Bertans reportedly will not rejoin Wizards in Disney quarantine bubble

As the NBA attempts to restart play in late July at the single-site location of Disney Wide World of Sports in Orlando, individual players must decide if they want to be involved. Presumably, most do want to play — or else the Players Union likely would have stated so by now. But certainly some players on the 22 teams the NBA is including in their return-to-play plan, for various reasons, may not want to participate. Here’s the Washington Post reporting:

Washington Wizards forward Davis Bertans, the team’s best three-point shooter and its prized upcoming free agent, will not play in Orlando when the NBA season resumes July 30.

Bertans has opted to end his season after the long hiatus from playing, according to several people with knowledge of his plans.

Bertans, who has not practiced for months since the NBA shut down in mid-March amid the coronavirus pandemic, felt that attempting to come back and play would “not be the smartest thing to do,” according to a person familiar with his mind-set. Bertans, 27, is expected to be one of the top players in the upcoming free agent class and is the Wizards’ highest priority to re-sign.

We’re now already in late June, which means if other players don’t plan to participate, chances are their wishes will become public very soon, likely in the next few days.

Davis Bertans having excellent season for Wizards

The Wizards are 7-16 so far this season, playing without John Wall, and have some changes to make if they want to head in a playoff-contending direction.

But there have been some early-season bright spots, especially one by the name of Davis Bertans.

Here’s NBC Sports Washington reporting:

The highlight of the Wizards’ season so far is definitely the emergence of Davis Bertans, whom the Wizards acquired over the summer in the NBA trade equivalent of a casino heist. Somehow, after only giving up the Euro-stashed Aaron White, they brought in what has so far been the best three-point shooter in the league this season. General manager Tommy Sheppard hadn’t even had the interim tag taken away when he made the move in July, which should be a very good sign of things to come.

Bertans is their second-leading scorer with 15.7 points per game and is shooting an absurd 46.5 percent from three. He has doubled his attempts from last season with the Spurs, from 4.4 to 8.6 per game, and somehow his percentage has gone up. That’s unheard of.

Bertans has been so good that it is inevitable the Wizards will field calls leading up to the Feb. trade deadline from contenders looking to add a shooter. But should they part ways with a guy who can shoot this well at 6-foot-10? Maybe if they were undergoing a long-term rebuild it would make sense, but team chairman Ted Leonsis doesn’t want it to take long and neither does Bradley Beal. Bertans is the type of guy you keep if you plan to compete for the playoffs sooner than later.

Davis is listed at 6-foot-10, 225 pounds, and is reportely making $7 million this season. And is doing big things despite coming off the bench for 22 of the 23 games he’s played in.