Donald Sloan

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Wizards announced today that the team has waived guard Donald Sloan.

Sloan (6-3, 205) appeared in two contests for the Wizards this preseason, where he averaged 9.0 points, 4.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 steal.

wizards-waive-donald-sloan

Wizards waive Donald Sloan

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The Wizards wrap up their preseason slate tonight in New York when they take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Wizards: G - Frazier, G - Beal, F - Porter, F - Smith, C - Gortat 

Knicks: G - Sessions, G - Hardaway Jr., F - Lee, F - Thomas, C - Kanter

Wizards: Markieff Morris (Sports Hernia - Out), Devin Robinson (Foot -TBD),  Sheldon Mac (Achilles - Out), John Wall (Rest - Out)

Knicks: Kuzminskas (Calf - Questionable), Kornet (Hamstring - Questionable), Ntilikina (Knee - Questionable)

The regular season begins in five days and tonight's game in New York will be the Wizards final chance to test any lineups, any combinations, and any plays they want before it really counts.  Some teams will use the last preseason game as a dress rehearsal for opening night, while others will choose to rest many of their starters and keep them fresh and healthy for the regular season.  We probably won't know what to expect from the Wizards until about 90 minutes before the game when head coach Scott Brooks reveals tonight's lineup, but even if the starters do play, they probably won't play quite as many minutes as they did on Wednesday in Miami.

Jason Smith got the start at the PF spot this past Wednesday, a game in which we probably got a pretty good idea about what the rotation will look like when the season starts next Wednesday.  He had his best game of the preseason, scoring 20 points on 7/8 shooting (4/5 from 3p) in 22 minutes. If Wednesday's game was the last true test to see who starts at PF while Markieff Morris is out with a sports hernia, then Smith certainly looked like he was ready to step in and take on that role.  The Wizards may elect to swap different forwards in and out of that starting spot over the first month or so of the season, with Mike Scott and Kelly Oubre Jr. certainly capable of starting, but Smith could be the one we see opening night.

With Sheldon Mac going down with an injury and Daniel Ochefu getting waived, the Wizards may now elect between Donald Sloan and Carrick Felix for their final roster spot.  Both were invited to camp on a non-guaranteed deal, but based on these recent developments, there's certainly a chance one may make the team.  The Wizards could also elect to keep 14 players and leave the 15th spot open to begin the season, or they could look outside the organization to fill that last spot.  In any case, we'll see if either Felix or Sloan get a chance to log minutes in tonight's final preseason game to make a last impression on the coaching staff.

preseason-finale-in-new-york

Preseason Finale in New York

The Wizards head to Miami for their first road preseason test tonight at AmericanAirlines Arena.

AmericanAirlines Arena | 7:30pm | WATCH: Monumental Sports Network

Wizards: G - Wall, G - Beal, F - Porter, F - Smith, C - Gortat 

Heat: G - Richardson, G - Waiters, F - McGruder, F - Olynyk, C - Whiteside

Wizards: Markieff Morris (Sports Hernia - Out), Tim Frazier (Groin - TBD), Devin Robinson (Foot -TBD),  Sheldon Mac (Achilles - Out)

The regular season begins one week from tonight and with just two preseason games left, it's time for the Wizards to start preparing for the real thing.  They could start playing the starters closer to their normal minutes and using rotations they would in next week's opener.  They still want to see which lineups play best together and determine who should take Markieff Morris' minutes while he's out for the first month of the season with a sports hernia.

Tonight will also be the team's first road game of the preseason, which may not seem like a big deal, but it's good for the group to get back in the routine of taking the team flight, staying in the hotel, going to shootaround in the morning, and then to the game at night.  They'll head to New York to wrap up the preseason on Friday night.

Tim Frazier (groin) returned to practice on Monday and is expected to make his Wizards preseason debut tonight.  The team traded for him this summer and had hopes of him being John Wall's backup point guard, so these next two preseason games should be big for Frazier as he gets his confidence with this new group.   Head coach Scott Brooks may play Frazier with different lineups over these next two games to try and get an idea of what he can expect from his backup point guard.

With Sheldon Mac going down with an injury and Daniel Ochefu getting waived, the Wizards may now elect between Donald Sloan and Carrick Felix for their final roster spot.  Both were invited to camp on a non-guaranteed deal, but based on these recent developments, there's certainly a chance one may make the team.  The Wizards could also elect to keep 14 players and leave the 15th spot open to begin the season, or they could look outside the organization to fill that last spot.  In any case, we'll see if either Felix or Sloan get a chance to log minutes in these last two games to make a final impression on the coaching staff.

wizards-in-miami-for-first-road-preseason-test

Wizards in Miami for First Road Preseason Test

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Photos  |Box Score

On a day in which the Wizards' starters played 10 minutes or less and the Cavs rested eight players, Washington came out on top, 102-94. Jodie Meeks (3-for-4 from beyond the arc) and Carrick Felix led the Wizards with 13 points a piece, while Bradley Beal had 11 points in his nine-plus minutes. The biggest news from the game came when Sheldon Mac fell awkwardly on his lower left leg in the second quarter and did not return.

Starters, outside of Oubre, play limited minutes

After Jason Smith started the first two preseason games alongside John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter Jr., and Marcin Gortat, Kelly Oubre Jr. got the nod as the fifth starter on Sunday. Oubre played 15 minutes, scoring 10 points and bringing down five rebounds, including three offensive rebounds. He had a game-high +11 in his minutes on the floor. Smith (rest) did not play in the game.

"It was cool. We were able to switch a lot on defense," Beal said of the smaller starting lineup. "Our talking still has to be a little bit better, but as far as our spacing, the floor is very spaced and we have multiple shooters on the floor. I think it gives us a different dynamic that a lot of teams aren’t very used to seeing from us. We are usually a two big team and that will definitely give us a different look. I’m curious to see what Coach (Brooks) wants to do with it.”

Wall played seven-plus minutes, scoring six points and dishing out two assists. Beal had 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting, including two 3-pointers. Gortat had a strong showing in his 10 minutes with five points and three rebounds and multiple defensive stops in the first quarter.

Point guard Donald Sloan played 28 minutes, scoring 12 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. The coaching staff gave him a good look in the second half, and Sloan had a fairly strong performance. Carrick Felix played 24 minutes, scoring 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting. Felix has proven all training camp and preseason why he's going to give it his all and hustle no matter what the score. Both Sloan and Felix are competing for a roster spot, and gave plenty of film for the coaches to look at.

“He plays with maximum effort," Scott Brooks said of Felix postgame. "That is his strength. You saw the last play -- he contested the shot when the game was pretty much over. That’s how he plays. He has one way of playing, he has the play hard button and he plays it and uses it every game and he steps on the floor and does the same thing in practice, every practice he brings it. He’s given himself a good opportunity to make the team and that’s what you want all of your players to do, and play hard and that’s to me that’s the easiest thing to do and a lot of times in the league that doesn’t seem to be the case. That’s the easiest thing to do is play hard and the hardest thing to do is to play well.”

When Sheldon Mac went down, the entire team surrounded him praying for one of the team's most-loved teammates. After the game, Scott Brooks said that Mac will get an MRI Sunday night or Monday morning to determine the extent of his injury. The Wizards will hope for the best, but it certainly didn't look good.

"It's super tough. He's a brother," Oubre said of Mac. "Our hearts dropped when he went down on the floor. I said a prayer for him when he was on the floor and I was standing over him. All we can do is just pray that he has a speedy recovery and continue to support him no matter what."

Next up, the Wizards head to Miami for their fourth preseason game Wednesday at 7:30pm.

Donald Sloan

Wizards waive Donald Sloan

Preseason Finale in New York

Wizards in Miami for First Road Preseason Test

Wizards take care of Cavs, 102-94