Wizards’ Justin Champagnie Has Career Game vs. Knicks

Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie is taking a bow after his best game as an NBA player against the New York Knicks.

Champagnie, who is currently on a two-way contract, made 13 of his 15 shots from the field against the Knicks for a career-high 31 points. He also added 10 rebounds for the second double-double of his career.

Champagnie spoke to reporters after the game explaining his recent surge off of a career performance.

“I just trust in myself, believing in my work. My teammates believe in me. My coaches believe in me. I put in a lot of pain for this, so just going out there believe [in] myself and just letting it fly and just being confident,” Champagnie said postgame.

Champagnie, 23, has started the last nine games for the Wizards with Kyle Kuzma out of the lineup. While it remains to be seen if he will keep that spot in the starting five, he has certainly warranted enough consideration to be given a standard contract at some point this season.

As a two-way player, Champagnie can only appear in 50 games for the Wizards. While he’s only at 12 appearances for the season, the Wizards have 53 games to go, which means Champagnie would have to miss 15 contests in order for the team to keep him on a two-way deal.

It doesn’t make much sense for the Wizards to restrict this growth considering how much he has progressed in the last few weeks.

This means the Wizards should look to make a roster move in the coming weeks that will open up a slot for Champagnie to officially be on the 15-man roster.

Champagnie and the Wizards will return to the court tonight to face the New York Knicks. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

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