Wizards waive Wesley Johnson

The Wizards announced they waived Wesley Johnson following Friday night’s loss to the Spurs.

The decision to part ways with Johnson isn’t surprising. The 31-year-old wasn’t going to factor in the team’s plans. He came to Washington in the Markieff Morris trade, which was designed to help Washington lower their payroll this season, and hasn’t been a part of the team’s playing rotation for over a month.

It’s unclear why the Wizards chose to make the move now. Johnson was going to be a free agent on Tuesday night after the team’s season ended. He told Candace Buckner of The Washington Post that he didn’t negotiate a buyout, so this move won’t save Washington any money unless another team claims him off waivers, which seems highly unlikely.

Now that Johnson is gone, the Wizards only have 13 players on the roster. The Wizards will not need to add another player to get back up to the 14-player roster minimum since the season ends in less than a week. However, now that the Wizards have two roster spots open, they could use their open spots to work out new deals beyond this season with their two-way players—Jordan McRae and Devin Robinson—to bring them up to the regular roster before they enter free agency this summer.