Alonzo Gee has been one of the few bright spots for the Washington Wizards over the past 20 days. I’m sure plenty of Wiz fans (y’know, the ones who haven’t been completely disenfranchised by the ongoing circus that is their team) didn’t quite know what to expect with Gee, but he’s shown himself to be a capable NBA player, averaging 7.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in a little more than 16 minutes per game. He’s not a star, and he may never be, but Gee works hard, produces, and will only get better.
So naturally, when his second 10-day contract expired, the depressing lump of a franchise that is the Washington Wizards cut him loose. There’s just no room for hard-working, low-salary young players on that team, despite the fact that Washington sorely needs just that. From Scott Schroeder of Ridiculous Upside:
...Gee was a member of the Spurs organization with the Austin Toros from the time the D-League club drafted him in November until he was called up to the Wizards for his first 10-day contract on March 7th - and they’ve been interested in him since he played for their Summer League team in Vegas.
This move, in my opinion, seems very similar to the move the Spurs made when they signed Gee’s Toros’ teammate Curtis Jerrells for the season last week. Toros coach Quin Snyder (and his staff) has spent nearly an entire season developing and grooming Gee to fit the Spurs system, so now that the Spurs have the chance to keep Gee in-house for an extended look over the Summer, it seems almost like a no-brainer - he knows the system, is filled with potential and the Spurs only have six players with guaranteed contracts for next season.
So Gee will waltz back to San Antonio -- or Austin, most likely -- and the Spurs, one of the more D-League savvy organizations in existence, have managed to keep another intriguing young player in-house by signing them to a guaranteed deal for the rest of the season and an unguaranteed deal for next. Ernie Grunfeld and the Wizards have managed to sever ties with a cheap, reasonable asset for seemingly no reason at all. Good show, chaps, good show.
