Wizards
The Wizards held an opponent under 100 points for the first time this season in a win over Brooklyn on Monday. It’s likely no coincidence that the team achieved this feat in Marcus Smart’s second game with the Wizards.
Smart, who joined after a deadline trade with the Grizzlies, reflected on the milestone.
“There are some people that probably slept on me,” he said, via Noah Trister of the Associated Press. “I haven’t played in a couple of years consistently, and they probably forgot about me — which is cool. I’m used to it. I still do what I do.”
- Wizards guard Jordan Poole is enjoying a career year, averaging 21.0 points, 4.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and shooting 37.1% from three-point range. Coach Brian Keefe may have a role in that, too, wrote Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
- Per Robbins, Poole was a vocal advocate for Keefe last spring when the team’s front office decided to make him the permanent head coach after he served as interim coach during the 2023-24 season.
- Poole praised Keefe’s leadership, saying, “I know how good and genuine a person he is off the court, so when he coaches us hard and he’s pushing us on the court, I know that’s because he just wants the best of us.”
Warriors
The Warriors have reached an agreement to sign Australian guard Taran Armstrong to a two-way contract, per the NBA transactions log.
Armstrong, 23, has played for the Cairns Taipans in Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) for the past two seasons. In the 2024-25 campaign, he enjoyed a breakout year, averaging 17.1 points, 4.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in 29.8 minutes per game over 19 appearances.
His shooting splits for the season were .461 from the field, .351 from three-point range, and .691 from the free-throw line.
The 6-foot-6 point guard also had a two-year college career at California Baptist from 2021 to 2023. He earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors in 2022 and was named to the All-WAC second team in 2023.
After going undrafted in June, Armstrong’s 2024-25 NBL season ended earlier this month when the Taipans missed the playoffs with an 8-21 record. That allowed him to return to the U.S. before the two-way contract signing deadline of March 4 and join the Warriors for the remainder of the season.
With the Warriors having an open two-way slot alongside Pat Spencer and Jackson Rowe — following the promotion of Quinten Post to the team’s 15-man roster earlier this month — no corresponding roster move will be necessary to accommodate Armstrong.
NBA Media
Richard Jefferson will join ESPN’s top broadcast team for the remainder of the NBA season, including the NBA Finals, alongside play-by-play announcer Mike Breen and analyst Doris Burke, as reported by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic.
Since ESPN parted ways with veteran analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson in 2023, the network’s top broadcast booth has featured a rotating group of analysts next to Breen and Burke. Doc Rivers and JJ Redick both filled the role before stepping into NBA head coaching positions.
ESPN has also experimented with analysts like Jay Bilas and Tim Legler, but Jefferson has primarily held the position throughout this season and will continue through June.
Despite his current role, Marchand reports that Jefferson’s long-term future at ESPN/ABC is uncertain. The former NBA forward has reportedly received interest from Amazon Prime Video, which will begin broadcasting NBA games next season.
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