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Wilks to fill Daniels' roster spot

By John N. Mitchell
December 17, 2007

The Washington Wizards will fill the roster spot of injured Antonio Daniels with Mike Wilks, whom Denver released last month, according to a league source.

The Nuggets cut the five-year veteran after eight games during which he averaged 3.0 points and 0.8 assists.

Wilks will not receive a guaranteed contract because the Wizards (13-10) don't want to surpass the luxury tax trigger of $67.86 million, the point at the end of the season when teams over the trigger must pay a dollar-for-dollar extra tax. His future with the team upon Daniels' return is uncertain.

Daniels replaced Gilbert Arenas in the starting lineup after the three-time All-Star underwent knee surgery Nov. 21. In the 14 games he started in place of Arenas, Washington went 9-5 and Daniels averaged 11.0 points, 6.6 assists and 4.0 rebounds.

Daniels is the third starter to go down this season. The Wizards likely lost center Etan Thomas for the season following heart surgery, and Arenas will be sidelined for at least the next two months.

Until the Wizards decided to add Wilks, they considered using a rotation of eight players, with the majority of bench minutes going to Roger Mason, Andray Blatche and Darius Songaila. Chances are this won't change much.

Washington coach Eddie Jordan inserted rookie Nick Young in the lineup to start at guard alongside DeShawn Stevenson, one of a number of players who recently has stepped up his play. In victories over Miami and Sacramento, Stevenson had 26 and 19 points to lead the Wizards in scoring in back-to-back games for the first time.

Stevenson has turned into a lethal shooter from 3-point range in recent games. He followed up a career-high six 3-pointers against Miami with a 5-for-8 showing from downtown in the team's 92-79 win over the Kings.

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