Two Names to Watch for Wizards Final Roster Cut

The Washington Wizards were, for a time, in the clear.

They entered the post-NBA Draft portion of their summer with too many players still signed to their active roster, eventually reaching up to 19 contracts following the first few weeks of free agency despite having to shape that down to 15 by opening night.

A series of cuts to fringe-rotational veterans and young players without much of a chance against the Wizards' litany of home-picked draft prospects in the minutes competition got the Wizards down to their required numbers, even down to the three two-way slots.

The Wizards quietly alerted the fans that they weren't done tweaking on Monday when they released Jaylen Martin , one of the three two-way players expected to split next season between the G League and the NBA squad.

Many assumed their next move would be to replace Martin as the fall's final addition, but the organization subverted everyone in re-signing Anthony Gill for one more tour.

The longest-tenured Wizard's returning for a sixth season in Washington now puts the active full-time roster back at 16 contracts, meaning that the team not only still has to find that final two-way piece, but also dump one of their actual big-league players.

Eyes immediately turn to Malaki Branham and Dillon Jones as the two most likely cut candidates, the two players who barely avoided July's wave of waivers.

Branham's spent the first three seasons of his career with the San Antonio Spurs, appearing as a score-first guard with enticing range.

He has a lot of holes in his game besides shooting, though, and lost out on a lot of rotational minutes due to his 13.4% assist rate , an exceedingly low number for an on-ball guard.

Branham profiles as a good 3-point shooter, making over 40% in his final San Antonio season, and can be real help to the defensively-tilted core rotation with his scoring creativity, but there was a reason he was available for trade.

He ended up in Washington alongside Blake Wesley in the second Kelly Olynyk trade , with the Spurs acquiring a veteran who knows how role and has a prayer at playing impact minutes in 2025-26.

Dillon Jones was similarly brought to Washington following the draft, but at least the team he couldn't get minutes on proved too good to be doling out minutes to anyone who wanted them.

Oklahoma City decided that the point-forward wasn't a part of their long-term plan following their championship win, and dealt him to a team that already rostered four rising sophomores from the 2024 Draft.

While Branham's at least posted some positive statistics in the NBA, Jones still has to prove he can hang in the bigs.

He shot under 39% from the field at 23-years-old and isn't promised a drastically richer role with the Wizards, but made a good case for himself to stick around with an inspiring performance to wrap up his team's run at NBA Summer League.

The Wizards have a lot of offseason left to make up their mind about whether Jones, Branham or another prospect will have to enter free agency late in the summer.

The decision now looms over the corners of the young locker room.

Make sure you bookmark Washington Wizards on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more! Former Forward Lashes Out Against Wizards Wizards Rebuild Ranked Among League's Best Former Star Reflects on Wizards' Playoff Shortcomings Wizards Forward Explains How Hell Impact Team Wizards Prospect Ends Summer League on High Note.

This article has been shared from the original article on si, here is the link to the original article.