Just in case you actually thought things might get normal around the Wizards, here we go:
First, the Dallas Morning News says Josh Howard missed the Dallas game against the Wizards last month because he was out partying. If that’s the case, it may be that the Mavericks stuck it to him, not the other way around.
Second, Zydrunas Ilgauskas is on his way to Washington, but that’s about it. He said the same thing to the Cleveland Plain Dealer that Drew Gooden did on Wednesday, and we know how that turned out:
“Right now I’m a Wizard,” said Ilgauskas. “I think eventually they’ll let me go, but that’s just my guess. They haven’t told me anything yet. First I’ve got to go to Washington, and hopefully after a couple of days they’ll let me go home.”
“He’s going to come in, take his physical, we’ll talk to him just see where his head and everything is at,” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders.
As for Al Thornton, who arrived late last night and was at Verizon Center for shootaround, Saunders said, “We’re optimistic he might be able to play tonight. We hope he can.”
“I knew I was on the trading block,” said Thornton. “But I didn’t know it was going to be for sure. But when I first got the news, I was on the way to the game. I was kind of shocked but I was excited because I think this is a good situation for me. I’ll be able to come in and play right away and contribute and try to help this team get some wins.”
Thornton, a Georgia native, has never seen this much snow: “I got used to that L.A. weather man, spoiled a little bit.”
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Wizards are done with Mike James, who has been given a leave of absence to decide whether he wants to agree to a buyout that would allow him to pursue other opportunities. Said Flip: “He hasn’t played. He’s not really in our plans, where we’re at. It’s the opportunity for him to go home, spend time with his family. If something can be worked out where someone has interest in him, then we’ll try to work something out and let him do what he needs to do. We’ve definitely made a change in the way we’re going and just didn’t see the need to have two veteran players in the backup position, both him and Earl [Boykins]. Earl is the guy that has been great for us this year, and we’re not going to change that.”
Flip was also asked if there was any decision on who might now be the Wizards team captain.
“I’m going to be the team captain,” he joked.
The Wizards aren’t likely to be joking later. They host Denver tonight, which snapped Cleveland’s 13-game winning streak last night thanks to 40 points from Carmelo Anthony.
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