The Washington Wizards announced that they have waived center Hamady Ndiaye. Before you freak out, let me explain why they did this.
- Ndiaye is the only player on the roster with a non-guaranteed contract.
- All non-guaranteed contracts become guaranteed contracts if the player remains on the roster after Friday.
- The Wizards had 15 players on the roster, including Ndiaye, which is the maximum number of players one can have on a roster.
- Sending Ndiaye down to the NBA Developmental League again wouldn't have done anything because he still would have counted on the roster.
- Having 15 players on the roster means the Wizards would not have had the flexibility to call up anyone from the D-League if a rash of injuries struck.
- Having 15 players on the roster means the Wizards couldn't take back multiple players in a trade for one player.
- Having 15 players on the roster means the Wizards had to pay all 15 players.
Therefore, their only move was to waive Ndiaye. I thought Ndiaye was a good guy and probably deserved more of a shot, but this was a numbers game, and there's not much he could have done about that. This is often how it goes.