Jodie Meeks picks up player option for 2018-19 season

The least surprising decision has finally been made.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN is reporting Jodie Meeks will pick up his $3.4 million player option for the 2018-19 season.

Meeks is coming off the worst season of his career. He only shot 34.3 percent from deep and was a healthy scratch in several games this season, despite the Wizards’ limited options in the backcourt.

The decision got even easier after the NBA suspended Meeks for 25 games in April for violating the league’s anti-drug policy. He will still need to serve 19 games of that suspension next season, during which time the Wizards will not have to pay his salary or the luxury taxes that go along with it.

With Meeks and Jason Smith both picking up their player options, the Wizards already have $124 million committed to ten players for next season, which means they will be in the tax next season, barring a salary-shedding move between now and July 1.