Thus Far, No Talk Of Development
Saturday, November 25, 2006; Page E07
MEMPHIS, Nov. 24 -- The Dakota Wizards opened their National Basketball Development League schedule Friday night but one of their NBA partners, the Washington Wizards, have no immediate plans to assign players to Bismarck.
Eligible candidates include second-year players Andray Blatche and Donell Taylor and reserve center James Lang. Blatche and Taylor had played sparingly going into Friday's game at Memphis while Lang has been inactive for all 12 games.
TRACKING THE WIZARDS Andray Blatche will attend 'John School,' a day-long seminar on the ills of solicitation. The Wizards re-sign forward Andray Blatche to a multiyear deal. After a delay, the Wizards finalize a trade of guard Juan Carlos Navarro to Memphis for a draft pick. Wizards Insider Ivan Carter and Michael Lee with exclusive coverage and analysis on the Washington Wizards. |
Still, Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan said the team plans on keeping all three players on for the time being.
"We haven't had any discussions about that yet," Jordan said. "I want James to be around, I want him to be ready and able to play for us when the time comes for him to do that. We really like James. There may be further discussions as time goes along and we can't get him in the rotation but for now, we haven't talked about that yet."
Short Turnaround With Pistons
The Wizards return home Saturday to face the Detroit Pistons for the second time in eight days. Washington lost, 100-91, at Detroit on Nov. 17. That game started a five-game winning streak for the Pistons, including Friday night's win in Charlotte
In last week's loss at Detroit, the Wizards came back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit and drew within two points three times in the final period before the Pistons put them away in the final three minutes.
