Washington Wizards are amid a great season in the nation’s capitol that has them thinking more
than just a first round playoff victory. They are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference but they’re only 3 games out of the first place Atlanta Hawks in the East.
When a team succeeds, there usually is a player or 2 that finds the short end of the stick with that team. In this case for the Wizards, it’s young wing guard/forward, Glen Rice Jr.
Glen Rice Jr. looked like a guy ready to take the next step for the Wizards. Especially when starting 2 guard Bradley Beal was expected to miss the first few weeks of the season due to an injury. Rice was the 2014 Las Vegas Summer League MVP averaging 25 points per game and had been shooting better than 50% for the majority of his time in the desert. He was showcasing a new attacking/slashing style, and looked like a guy who knows how to score.
Lets fast forward to the first week of 2015 and Rice has played in just 5 games, playing only 43 “garbage time” minutes for the Wizards. He’s riding the bench in the D-League right now with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Then to put the cherry on top, he doesn’t have a guaranteed contract and on a Wizards’ team that’s stacked with wing depth in the forms of the afformentioned Beal, Paul Pierce, Otto Porter Jr., Garrett Temple, Martell Webster (who’s only played 2 games this year but has a $5 million dollar guaranteed contract) and Rasual Butler who has been a pleasant surprise for the Wizards. Rice just can’t crack the rotation.
Now it seems like the Wizards may be shopping the young wing player according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post:
With a gluttony of wing players and limited financial flexibility, the Washington Wizards intend to trade Glen Rice Jr. before his contract becomes 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.
What exactly is the value for a 24 year old guard who’s only played in under 20 career NBA games? Not much, but Washington may hope to get something for him or possibly release him by January 10th to avoid needing to keep his contract around.
