Wizards issue qualifying offers to Garrison Mathews, Cassius Winston; Isaac Bonga to be UFA

The Wizards will not issue a qualifying offer to Isaac Bonga, thereby making him an unrestricted free agent, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The 6-foot-8 point forward saw his playing time cut nearly in half from the 2019-20 season to last year. Despite the flashes of potential he showed, the Wizards now find themselves with a logjam of forwards, and Bonga appears to be the odd man out. His QO would’ve been worth about $2.08M.

The Wizards are, however, extending qualifying offers to guards Garrison Mathews and Cassius Winston, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz. Both players finished the season on two-way contracts with Washington.

Mathews, who went undrafted in 2019, was a revelation as a feisty sharpshooter for the Wizards this season, and he even started 24 games. Winston, last year’s No. 53 overall pick, wasn’t able to crack Washington’s rotation in a major way during his rookie year, but the accomplished collegiate point guard has potential as a shooter and pick-and-roll playmaker, and the Wizards need guards.

Mathews’ qualifying offer will be a standard minimum-salary contract with a small partial guarantee, while Winston’s will be another two-way deal.