Inside The Wizards

Wizards Re-Sign Beloved Veteran

One longtime Washington Wizards forward will return for a sixth season with the team.
Feb 7, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill (16) warms up prior to the game between the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images
Feb 7, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill (16) warms up prior to the game between the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images | Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

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The Washington Wizards, having spent the majority of the offseason shaving their roster down to the maximum number of eligible players for opening night, have made an addition. Anthony Gill, one of the longest-tenured Wizards who the team parted ways with, has been re-signed to the team on a one-year deal, according to HoopsHype.

No official report has been made regarding how much he'll be making, but the veteran's minimum is a likely place to start.

Gill spent five seasons in Washington before getting waived in June, one of several casualties of the Wizards' bloated roster alongside other veterans like Richaun Holmes and, to a degree, Marcus Smart, who are both no longer on the team after a series of buy-outs.

The 32-year-old's counting stats are nothing remarkable, with his making his NBA debut at 28 en route to five years of averaging 3.4 points per game in 230 total games, but his value goes far beyond the box score. He's universally revered as a veteran among veterans, a staple of charitable work within the DC community to go alongside his ever-helpful and positive locker room presence.

The Wizards are going to enter the upcoming regular season with one of the youngest rosters in the league, an expansive rebuild that's seeing them throw as much at the wall as they can. There will be a lot of contending for open minutes, and having someone there whose sole purpose is to be there for the young guys will ease out a potential rotational burden.

Washington Wizards Forward Anthony Gill
Feb 3, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill (16) during pregame warm ups against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The team only had two real veterans before between CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton, and are now joined by someone who's plenty familiar with the situation in Washington. Gill will play scarcely, but when he does, he'll actually help out the frontcourt with his size and commitment to physicality in lineups where he'll be surrounded by on-ball guards and versatile wings.

Now, the storyline flips to how the Wizards plan on getting the number of players on full-time NBA contracts back down to 15. They put in a lot of work to narrowing the roster down, but will now have to split with one of their many young guys.

Players on the chopping block now include Malaki Branham, the only remaining player returned from the second Kelly Olynyk trade to the San Antonio Spurs, and Dillon Jones, the rising sophomore who the Wizards pulled from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Neither will cost much to dump, and both were facing uphill battles in having to claw for minutes on the 2025-26 team.

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Henry Brown
HENRY BROWN

Henry covers the Washington Wizards and Baltimore Ravens with prior experience as a sports reporter with The Baltimore Sun, the Capital Gazette and The Lead. A Bowie, MD native, he earned his Journalism degree at the University of Maryland.

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