Ian

Mahinmi

Mahinmi appeared in a total of 618 games in the NBA and last played for the Washington Wizards during the 2019-20 campaign. He did not play during the 2020-21 season.

The 33-year-old veteran is slated for free agency, and may not find an interested team this summer. He’s started 35 games for the Wizards in 2019-20, due to Thomas Bryant’s injuries and a lack of depth at the center spot, but there’s no reason to think he’ll be a fantasy asset next season.

Mahinmi was held out of Washington’s scrimmage against Denver on Wednesday due to the groin issue, but he’s been deemed healthy enough to go Saturday. Even when healthy he isn’t worth grabbing in fantasy, especially with Thomas Bryant back in the rotation.

Mahinmi missed Washington’s first exhibition game with a groin issue, but he always seems to be dealing with something. He’s irrelevant in fantasy hoops, anyway.

Ian Mahinmi would’ve likely started but is sitting out to nurse a sore groin. Bryant is expected to play roughly eight minutes as he works on his conditioning, and we’re likely to see the majority of available players all get a look this evening. Watching Napier and Brown Jr. run the offense will be interesting without Bradley Beal in the mix, and fantasy managers will be watching Bonga to see if all the training camp hype was warranted with coach Brooks constantly talking him up.

Thomas Bryant started and played just 15 minutes, while Anzejs Pasecniks played 11 minutes in the win. The Warriors play small and there wasn’t much need for centers in this one, but it’s possible that Mahinmi may see a reduced role going forward, making him a very risky fantasy option going forward.

Wizards coach Scott Brooks said he’d like to stay with a two-center rotation, but wouldn’t disclose whether Ian Mahinmi or Moe Wagner would serve as Bryant’s backup. This is a positive development for Bryant’s fantasy owners, though the real key will be getting his minutes to ramp up.

It’s the second night of a back-to-back so the Wizards are going to play it safe after he had a setback right before the All-Star break. Bryant played an average of 15.0 minutes in his previous two games but hopefully the minutes eclipse the 20-minute mark on a consistent basis before the fantasy playoffs begin. Ian Mahinmi is likely to remain with the starters but is an uninspiring fantasy option even with a bump in minutes, but Moe Wagner becomes a very attractive streamer with this news as a player who only needs 20 minutes to approach top-100 numbers in 9-cat.

He was questionable with a foot issue, so that could be something to watch at some point. Coach Scott Brooks split his center minutes 16/16/16 with Mahinmi, Moe Wagner and Thomas Bryant, so something will have to give here. The Wizards actually have a shot at the playoffs, but chances are Bryant will eventually be the guy getting the majority of the minutes. Mahinmi is only worth a look in deep leagues.

With Thomas Bryant (foot) good to go, it’ll be interesting to see how much Mahinmi is used in this one. Coach Scott Brooks has used two-center lineups a whole lot, so that could be an option to get Moe Wagner some playing time in the second unit. Mahinmi is only a deep-league stream for blocks.