Washington Wizards waive Johnathan Williams

The bad news is the Washington Wizards waived Johnathan William. The good news is somebody must be getting healthy.

Well that was quick. After appearing in a Washington Wizards uniform for the first time on December 26, 2019, Johnathan Williams has been waived just a week and a half later.

The Wizards made the move official not long after the team’s improbable 128-114 win over the Denver Nuggets.

The move isn’t exactly a surprising one. The Wizards brought Williams in to help bolster an incredibly depleted frontcourt that has now been without Thomas Bryant, Moritz Wagner, Rui Hachimura, Davis Bertans, and C.J. Miles for an extended period of time. When you sign someone via a hardship exception, as the Wizards did with Williams, they are not usually an integral part of your longterm plan.

The move is a tad bittersweet, though, because Williams was starting to look like another diamond in the rough find for Tommy Shepard. In his six games as a replacement for the Wizards’ decimated roster, Williams averaged 5.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and shot 68.2 percent from the field. Not bad at all for someone with just two dozen NBA games under his belt before arriving in DC. In fact, Only Thomas Bryant and Anžejs Pasečņiks average more rebounds, an area in which the Wizards desperately need to improve.

By his second game as a Wizards, Williams was already in the starting lineup. He even had a few near double-double performances, including…

• Nine points and eight rebounds against the Detroit Pistons,
• Eight points and eight rebounds against the Portland Trail Blazers
• 12 points and eight rebounds against the Denver Nuggets

However, even if Williams was a solid fill-in, his departure from DC likely means somebody is getting healthy and that is unquestionably good news. With the Wizards looking to find young valuable pieces, I wouldn’t be surprised if Williams somehow found his way back to Washington after a decent audition.