Free agent guard Gary Neal has agreed to a one-year, $2.1 million deal with the Washington Wizards, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. The Wizards will sign Neal with the bi-annual exception.
Gary Neal agrees to 1-year, $2.1 million deal with Wizards
Washington adds some shooting and scoring punch to its bench.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The question for Neal is whether he can succeed outside of the Spurs system. There's no doubt Gregg Popovich and his magic can turn ordinary role players into maestros in his basketball orchestra, and outside of San Antonio so far for Neal, the results have been mixed. However, in the 11 games with Minnesota to close out last season, Neal shot well and hit free agency with some momentum. He also played well after a midseason trade to Charlotte two seasons ago, though he struggled to build on that this year.
Neal averaged roughly 10 points per game as a quick-trigger bench shooter in each of his first three seasons with the Spurs. He had several big moments in the 2013 run to the Finals, but ultimately decided to leave after that season for a bigger contract, where he played miserably in Milwaukee and battled injuries. He played just 22 games in Charlotte during the 2013-14 season but did get into 55 games last season, including that stellar 11-game stretch for the Timberwolves.
He will give much-needed backcourt scoring punch to the Wizards' bench. He can play with either John Wall or Ramon Sessions and provide a solid shooting touch.
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