Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said on Wednesday that center Ian Mahinmi will not play in tomorrow’s regular-season finale against the Celtics, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link).
Since the Wizards landed in Orlando for the seeding games, Mahinmi has not played a single minute. This season, the 33-year-old center only played in 38 games, averaging 7.4 PPG and 5.7 RPG.
The Wizards were expecting Mahinmi to be their veteran rim protector when they signed him to a four-year, $64M contract in the summer of 2016. However, that never came to fruition due to injuries. Over the last two seasons, Mahinmi has only played in 72 games. The veteran center is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Here’s more from across the Eastern Conference:
- The Pacers haven’t ruled out a potential return for All-star forward Domantas Sabonis, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN. Sabonis has been sidelined with plantar fasciitis and not played a single game in Orlando. This season, the 6’11 forward is averaging 18.5 PPG and 12.5 RPG.
- In his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel looked at the potential role Rookie of the Year finalist Kendrick Nunn might play for the Heatgoing forward. Nunn left the Disney World campus last week due to a personal matter but returned over the weekend. We learned on Wednesday that the rookie point guard cleared quarantine. Winderman believes that the rookie point guard could find himself coming off of the bench, especially if Goran Dragic starts for Miami.
- ESPN’s Bobby Marks gave an overview of what the Knicks’ offseason looks like, starting with October’s NBA draft and then heading into free agency. According to Marks, theKnicks will have to make financial decisions on Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, Wayne Ellington, Elfrid Payton, and Reggie Bullock. Out of those five players, Portis might be the most important on the list as he has a $15.8M team option, which needs to be exercised by Oct. 17.
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