NBA Rumors Round-Up
NBA Rumors: Wizards Trying to Trade Rice?
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated04 Dec 2023
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With a gluttony of wing players and limited roster flexibility, the Washington Wizards are looking to trade Glen Rice Jr. before his contract is guaranteed on Jan. 10, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Washington has already spoken to other teams about Rice, who was shipped to the D-League in late November and hasn’t played in the Fort Wayne Mad Ants’ last four games despite no reported injury.
All contracts become guaranteed on Jan. 10, so the Wizards are hoping to trade Rice before then. This season, only $400,000 of Rice’s $816,482 contract is guaranteed.
Rice has spent much of the season in the D-League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, where he has averaged 12.7 points per game while shooting 49.2 percent from the field.
As the article notes, Rice hasn’t played in the Mad Ants’ last four games, likely because the team is holding him while searching for a trade partner.
Castillo also points out that Rice and Wizards head coach Randy Wittman exchanged words during a November game against the Toronto Raptors, and he hasn’t played for the Wizards since.
Rice was the 35th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. He played very well during this past Summer League, averaging 25 points and unanimously earning the Las Vegas Summer League MVP award.
The Sacramento Kings announced today that rookie forward Eric Moreland underwent successful surgery Saturday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The surgery was performed by Dr. Arthur Ting in Fremont, California, after an initial consultation with Kaiser Permanente.
He will begin rehabilitation immediately and should be ready for NBA Summer League play.
via Kings press release
This was first reported by Basketball Insiders on Dec. 31. Sources told me that Moreland first sustained this injury during his final collegiate season and then he re-injured it during his stint with the Kings’ Summer League team.
His shoulder would occasionally pop out of place and he would pop it back. He missed part of training camp and a number of practices due to this injury. Recently, his shoulder was popping out more frequently and causing more issues, so he decided to have the surgery.
As the Kings confirmed, he’s expected to be ready for Summer League play.
This season, Moreland totaled two points (1-1 FG) and one rebound in two minutes off the bench in three games with the Kings this season. He averaged 13.7 points (.592 FG%), 12.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in seven contests with the Reno Bighorns.
The fact that he was able to make the roster and post impressive stats in Summer League and D-League play is even more impressive knowing what he was dealing with.
Bryce Cotton, who’s averaging 19.2 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in D-League, has received interest from 2-3 NBA teams that want to sign him to a 10-day contract, sources told Sportando.
via Sportando
On Monday, NBA teams can start signing players to 10-day contracts, so expect a number of free agents and D-League players to receive some consideration.
It sounds like Cotton will get a 10-day deal after he played very well in the D-League with the Austin Toros.
It remains to be seen which teams are showing interest in Cotton, but it seems he has some potential suitors lined up.
Cotton, who went undrafted, joined the Toros after being waived by the San Antonio Spurs.
