The Washington Wizards have waived swingman Glen Rice Jr., days before his contract would have become a guaranteed contract with the ballclub. The Wizards were actively trying to find suitors to take in Rice but have however failed to find an interested team.
With Rice's departure, the Wizards will now have salary cap flexibility as the trade-deadline late-season buyouts draw near. His departure frees up $416,000 in salary cap space for the Wizards which could be used for trading or signing up free agents.
Rice, the son of NBA great Glen Rice, was shipped to Fort Wayne on Nov. 20 and went on to average 12.7 points in 14 games. This came after his celebrated verbal tussle with head coach Randy Wittman in front of the Wizards bench when the team lost to the Toronto Raptors. From that incident, Rice would never see a single minute of action ever again and was relegated to the NBA D-League.
Aside from that, Rice was actually the third option behind Bradley Beal and Paul Pierce. And with the resurgence of Rasual Butler as well as the return of players Martell Webster and Otto Porter, Rice became the odd man out.
Now Rice finds himself in search of a new team. But the question is which?
His position is something that seems to be filled up in most NBA ballclubs although there could be a few who may just pick up Rice and put his talent to good use. The San Antonio Spurs could use him or maybe some of the struggling teams like the Celtics, Lakers or Knicks. But these are all speculations of course.
The youthful Rice does have the talent and he has shown it pretty well, particularly during the Summer League where he was adjudged MVP. But one thing working against him is maturity which seems to be one of the prime reasons for his waiving.
