The Washington Wizards' frontcourt has undergone some drastic changes of late. Following a miserable 18-64 finish in 2024-25, the Wizards continued to add intriguing pieces to their young core via the 2025 NBA draft, bringing in Texas guard Tre Johnson with the No. 6 pick, using their rights to the No. 21 selection on Illinois swingman Will Riley, grabbing Florida State shooting guard/forward Jamir Watkins with the No. 43 pick. Washington is fully embracing the tank, often acquiring unwanted aging vets in exchange for future draft equity.
Wizards Waive $13 Million Center, Making Him Free Agent originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Washington Wizards' frontcourt has undergone some drastic changes of late.
Following a miserable 18-64 finish in 2024-25, the Wizards continued to add intriguing pieces to their young core via the 2025 NBA draft, bringing in Texas guard Tre Johnson with the No. 6 pick, using their rights to the No. 21 selection on Illinois swingman Will Riley, grabbing Florida State shooting guard/forward Jamir Watkins with the No. 43 pick.
Those new pieces will presumably get plenty of run alongside recent lottery picks Alex Sarr, Carlton "Bub" Carrington, and Bilal Coulibaly, plus young swingman Corey Kispert.
Washington is fully embracing the tank, often acquiring unwanted aging vets in exchange for future draft equity. Now, the Wizards are ditching one of their own unwanted aging vets.
Washington has opted to waive veteran center Richaun Holmes, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Only $250K of his $13.28 million salary for 2025-26 was guaranteed.
The Washington Wizards have waived Richaun Holmes. https://t.co/KuoLUfb0Tr
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) July 14, 2025
After declining his $12.9 million player option for 2024-25 last summer, Holmes agreed to a two-year, $25.9 million deal instead, which included the partially guaranteed $250K salary for 2025-26.
Holmes was a 2024 trade deadline addition to Washington as part of the deal that shipped Daniel Gafford off to the Mavericks, helping to ignite Dallas' run to the NBA Finals that summer.
Earlier this summer, Washington inked free agent center Marvin Bagley III, the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft ahead of Jaren Jackson Jr., Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Bagley will serve as a backup to Alex Sarr, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft who's shown a lot more promise than Bagley ever did. The Wizards also traded for ex-New Orleans Pelicans power forward/center Kelly Olynyk last week, but ultimately flipped him to the San Antonio Spurs.
Across just 31 games last year, the 6-foot-10 pro out of Bowling Green averaged 7.4 points on 64.7% shooting from the field and 83.3% shooting from the charity stripe, 5.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.7 blocks.
At 31, Holmes doesn't make much sense on a rebuilding Wizards roster looking to develop its young players and win later. Now that he's a late addition to the free agent market, however, Holmes should be able to attract at least some interest from teams looking to add bench depth at the center position.
Related: Wizards Facing Backlash After Trade Announcement on Sunday
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
