The Washington Wizards intend to sign free agent guard Jerian Grant as a substitute player for Davis Bertans, a source tells Wizards reporter Chris Miller. The deal will become official on July 1, Miller adds.
Source: @WashWizards will sign Jerian Grant @JerianGrant to replace Davis Bertans roster spot when team restarts the season. Signing will be official July 1st. #RepTheDistrict
— Chris Miller (@cmillsnbcs) June 25, 2020
Bertans has decided to opt out of the NBA’s restart this summer in large part due to injury concerns. The Wizards have a full 15-man roster, but can sign a replacement for someone like Bertans, who voluntarily opts out and surrenders his salary for the eight seeding games.
That replacement will be Grant, who spent most of the 2019/20 season playing for Washington’s G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, following a brief stint in China last fall. In 39 games (33.3 MPG) for the Go-Go, the veteran point guard averaged 16.3 PPG, 5.5 APG, and 4.4 RPG with an impressive .475/.441/.835 shooting line.
Grant, a former first-round pick who has previously played for the Knicks, Bulls and Magic, will receive a rest-of-season, minimum-salary deal as a substitute player. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, and the Wizards won’t hold any form of Bird rights on him.
Grant will help provide depth in a Washington backcourt that will be missing point guard John Wall. Wall, who continues to recover from an Achilles tear, isn’t eligible to be replaced by a substitute player since he’ll be sidelined due to an injury rather than voluntarily opting out or being ruled out due to a health issue related to COVID-19.
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