Washington Wizards pondering amnesty option for forward Andray Blatche – NBA News
The Washington Wizards are reportedly contemplating using their amnesty clause on forward Andray Blatche, and have till Tuesday evening to make the decision.
The deadline for using the amnesty clause is set at 5 pm on Tuesday, after which teams will have to wait till next July to amnesty a player. Teams can only use the amnesty clause once over the life of the new Collective Bargaining
Agreement (CBA).
A player once amnestied can be picked up by teams under the salary cap for the next NBA season, with the player going to the team with the highest bid. If no team bids, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent and can join
any team he desires.
If Washington uses the clause on him, they will have to pay him $23 million in unpaid salary, but the salary will come off their books and give them cap space to make more deals. The Wizards tried to trade Blatche but reportedly
did not get any offer that they liked.
Blatche had earlier signed a contract extension with the Wizards in 2010 for $25 million, after playing the best season of his career in the 2009-2010 NBA season where he averaged 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He improved
on that performance in the 2010-2011 NBA season, where he averaged a career high 16.8 points and 8.2 rebounds.
However, his averages dropped considerably last season, where he managed only 8.5 points and 5.8 rebounds while going 38% from the field. He played only 26 games for the Wizards last season, out of which he started in13.
The Washington Wizards drafted Jan Vesely in the 2011 NBA Draft, and traded for forwards Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza last month. These moves in the last year or so have considerably strengthened their front court.
The centre spot is currently being filled by Nene, who was acquired this season in a trade with the Denver Nuggets. In the 11 games Nene played for the Wizards this season, he averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. With
2010 first round draft pick John Wall in the line-up as well, the Wizards have a good team assembled for next season.
In Washington amnesties Blatche before the deadline, they will become the 6th team in the past one week to use their amnesty clause on a player.
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