Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019

2025 Free Agents - Justin Champagnie
After going undrafted in the 2021 draft, Champagnie spent the '21-'22 season on a two-way contract with the Raptors, and played well enough to earn a standard contract in the summer of 2022. He didn't get a ton of playing time as a rookie, but still played 228 minutes of non-garbage time over the course of 27 games, according to Cleaning the Glass. Those minutes dropped in '22-'23, and he was waived mid-way through the season. He was able to play well enough on his two-way contract in Washington to get another standard contract. Champagnie' was a very strong rebounder in college (averaged over 11 rebounds per game his final year at Pittsburgh) and continued to post high rebound rates during his rookie season (his 12.8% offensive rebounding rate was the best in the league for a wing, per Cleaning the Glass). However, his rebounding rates on both sides of the ball have dropped since his rookie season, and in '24-'25 were pretty average. From a skill perspective, Champagnie could certainly use some development in order to supplant himself as a surefire NBA player. He isn't really a creator in any sense, and his outside shot isn't great to the point he can be a reliable spot-up threat either, although he has shown improvement and even hit 40% from three in '24-'25 on decent volume. He mostly lives off of hustle plays. Defensively, Champagnie has solid size for a wing at 6'7" with decent length. He moves his feet well on the perimeter and has the ability to provide some level of back-side rim protection and can get some blocks. Champagnie has shown some nice flashes thus far, and he is still only 24 years old, but he still needs to prove that he can stick around in the NBA. Champagnie has been productive in the G-League and had a career best year in '24-'25. Continuing to be a reliable outside shooter would be huge for him, but he has shown that even without that level of shooting, he can provide value in other ways.
Summary
Champagnie's $2.3 million salary for 2025-2026 is non-guaranteed, and if he is waived he will become an unrestricted free agent and the Wizards will have no form of Bird rights on him. If he is waived, teams could claim him off waivers, but would need to fit his salary within cap space or an exception to do so, as his contract doesn't fit within the minimum salary exception as it was a four-year contract. If Champagnie becomes a free agent, other teams will have multiple ways to sign him as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. If Champagnie is waived and clears waivers, his value will likely have dropped low enough that he would only have offers for the minimum.
Cap Considerations
Johnny Juzang (4-3 year, $12 million, 2024) Julian Champagnie (4-1 year, $12 million, 2023) Talen Horton-Tucker(1 year minimum, non-guaranteed 2024)