It’s almost time.
With Wizards media day only 11 days away and training camp set to open the day after that, the team has announced four additions to its training camp roster.
With the return of center/forward Brian Cook, along with the additions of center/forward Earl Barron, guard Steven Gray and forward Shavlik Randolph, the Wizards will have 18 players when things get underway at George Mason. There are 14 players already under contract – Shelvin Mack is partially guaranteed – leaving one spot still to be won.
The 6-foot-9 Cook, who started last year with the Los Angeles Clippers, wasn’t exactly thrilled about landing in Washington as part of the deal that brought Nene to the Wizards and sent away Nick Young, JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf. He averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16 games.
“You always want to play in the playoffs,” Cook said back in April after the season ended. “You always want to play for something. Like I said, that did come through my mind. That’s what I was mad about at first because I knew the team I was on was going to go to the playoffs. But I had a great month and a half here. These guys, they’re all really good guys. They’re all competitors. They all competed, and hopefully I’ll see them again sometime soon.”
As it turns out, that’s exactly the case.
Barron (7-0) has career averages of 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in 112 games over six seasons between the Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors. He appeared in two games for the Warriors last season in addition to spending time with the Meralco Bolts in the Philippines.
Randolph (6-10) has averaged 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 22 NBA games over five seasons, representing Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers and Miami Heat. He played last season with the Dongguan Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association then averaged 7.3 points and 7.8 rebounds over four games for the Wizards in Las Vegas Summer League.
Vegas is also where Gray (6-5) hooked up with Washington after playing in Latvia last season. He made three Summer League appearances for the Wizards, averaging 7.3 points and 2.0 assists.
