Hoops Hype

Ayton’s offer sheet surpasses the four-year, $107 million deal signed by Otto Porter Jr. with the Brooklyn Nets in 2017 — a deal the Washington Wizards ultimately matched. Sign-and-trade deals are longer allowed once Ayton signs the offer sheet with Indiana. If the Suns do match the offer sheet, they can’t trade Ayton anywhere until at least Jan. 15 — and can’t trade him to … [Read more...] about

https://www.baltimoresports.today/basketball/wizzards/156948/

They entered and found a smattering of about 20 people. “I guarantee you Flip Saunders is the only NBA head coach to ever set foot in the third floor of the Imperial Palace,” Connelly jokes. Walter signed up to sing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Ryan Saunders, Flip’s son and then an assistant coach with the Wizards, recalls Walter scribbling down lyrics. The Wizards’ staff … [Read more...] about

https://www.baltimoresports.today/basketball/wizzards/156688/

Tim Connelly, then a Wizards scout and now the president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves, hoped karaoke might keep Walter away from blackjack tables. “He is the world’s worst blackjack player,” Connelly says. Walter once hit on 18 despite colleagues shouting in dissent, Connelly recalls. “‘I feel good about this one, bud,'” Walter assured them. (Everyone … [Read more...] about

https://www.baltimoresports.today/basketball/wizzards/156687/

THE MOST UNLIKELY tradition of the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League began in 2009 inside a dingy third-floor ballroom of the Imperial Palace — a mid-strip casino that has since been renamed. About eight members of the Washington Wizards’ staff — including Flip Saunders, just starting his tenure as Washington’s head coach — were at dinner nearby when someone mentioned the Imperial … [Read more...] about

https://www.baltimoresports.today/basketball/wizzards/156686/

The Wizards had the 25th-ranked defense last season in part because they couldn’t stop dribble penetration by guards on the perimeter. At 6-foot-5, Wright is a big defender at the point guard position and is known for forcing turnovers. He’s also a solid 3-point shooter, having knocked down 37.9% from deep last season with Atlanta. The Wizards, meanwhile, were 30th out of 30 … [Read more...] about

https://www.baltimoresports.today/basketball/wizzards/156685/