The Wizards’ younger players are remaining on their rookie scale contracts.
On Monday night, Josh Robbins of The Athletic reported that Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert will receive his fourth-year team option, while forward Patrick Baldwin, Jr. and guard Johnny Davis will receive their third-year team options. The options will take effect in the 2024-25 NBA season.
The Washington Wizards have exercised their fourth-year team option for Corey Kispert and their third-year team options for Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Johnny Davis, a league source told @TheAthleticNBA. The exercises options are for the 2024-25 season.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) October 31, 2023
Kispert is averaging 14 points per game in the Wizards’ first three games. He has been a solid presence off the bench, especially from the three-point line. It should be no surprise that Kispert is getting his fourth-year option.
Baldwin and Davis are in their sophomore seasons after equally disappointing rookie seasons. For Baldwin, he played sparingly for the Golden State Warriors in 31 appearances, though let’s be honest. The Warriors were and still are an NBA title contender. This season, he has yet to score a point and is hardly getting playing time.
Davis only appeared in one game this season where he scored 5 points last night against the Boston Celtics. Last season, Davis averaged 5.8 points per game in 28 appearances despite being the 10th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He also spent significant time with the Capital City Go-Go, averaging 11.9 points in 14 appearances.
I’m surprised that Baldwin received his third-year option given how little he has produced. But I expected Davis to get his, even considering how disappointing his rookie year was. However, with the Wizards in a rebuild, it doesn’t hurt to keep players on rookie-scale contracts for as long as possible while evaluating their fit for the future.
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