The Washington Wizards filled their open roster spot on Thursday by signing veteran forward J.J Hickson, who was waived by the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 19 and is expected to be available Friday night when the Wizards play at the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 6-foot-9 Hickson is a solid rebounder who joins the NBA’s worst rebounding team with just 26 games remaining. The Wizards flipped from one of the league’s best rebounding teams to its worst when they decided to change their offensive style, emphasizing more of a pace-and-space approach.
Hickson will also allow the Wizards to better manage the minutes of fellow big men Marcin Gortat and Nene. Washington was with just those two since trading Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair as part of the deal to acquire Markieff Morris from the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline. Trading Humphries and Blair for Morris left the Wizards one player below the roster maximum.
During seven-plus seasons in the NBA, Hickson has averaged 9.7 points and 6.9 rebounds. He has shot 50.5 percent from the field. He has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings and Denver. Hickson’s best season was in 2013, when he averaged 12.7 points and 10.4 rebounds for the Trail Blazers. He started 80 games that season.
Washington is wallowing at 26-30. It won three out of four games following the all-star break, hinting that a much-needed return to skilled defense had arrived. Then, the Wizards lost, 109-104, to the depleted Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night. Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Joakim Noah did not play for Chicago.
Had it won, Washington would have pulled to within two games of a playoff spot. Instead, it are three games out of the No. 8 seed. The good news for the Wizards is that they are 4.5 games out of the No. 5 seed in what continues to be a tightly packed back half of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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