The Washington Wizards and ex-New Orleans Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas have agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
“Agents Jeff Schwartz and Michael Tellem of Excel Basketball landed the deal with the Wizards to bring the veteran center to a young, rebuilding roster in DC,” Wojnarowski reported.
Valanciunas, 32, appeared in all 82 games with the Pelicans last season, averaging 12.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, shooting 56% from the field and 78.5% from the free-throw line.
So far this offseason, the Wizards have added veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, and selected French big man Alex Sarr with the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
Washington hasn’t made the playoffs since 2021 and hasn’t hit 50 wins in any one season since 1979 — the organization’s last appearance in the NBA Finals. The Wizards haven’t won a playoff series since 2017.
Along with Sarr, the Wizards drafted guard/forward Carlton Carrington and guard Kyshawn George.
“We walked into [the draft] Wednesday night and had a plan in place,” Wizards GM Will Dawkins said, via Sapna Bansil of the Washington Post. “We were aligned from top to bottom. We were strategic, [and] we were aggressive and made sure that we accomplished our goals. So with these three young men to my left, we feel like we’re adding a few more bricks to that base-level foundation that we talked about at the end of the season.”
Meanwhile, the Pelicans just recently landed guard Dejounte Murray in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks. Now, they have a hole in the middle to fill.
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