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The Washington Wizards extended qualifying offers to Garrison Mathews and Cassius Winston, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic.
The Wizards extended qualifying offers to two-way players Garrison Mathews and Cassius Winston, a source tells @TheAthleticNBA, meaning both Mathews and Winston will be restricted free agents this summer.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) July 31, 2021
Mathews played in 64 games last season, averaging 5.5 points per game while Winston made 22 appearances and averaged 1. points per game. Both were on two-way contracts last season, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and an abbreviated G-League season that didn’t feature every team, Mathews played exclusively with the Wizards while Winston only made the trip to the G-League for the regular season when he averaged 12.8 points and 5.6 assists for the Erie Bayhawks. The Capital City Go-Go did not field a team last year.
Both Mathews and Winston will be expected to come off the bench again this season. Hopefully, Winston in particular gets more playing time because he didn’t get to show much last season with Russell Westbrook as the starter. Even though Westbrook isn’t here anymore, there are likely more point guards who could take the starting job short term.