The Washington Wizards announced that the team has signed guard Gary Payton II to a 10-day contract. Payton II, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton, has spent this season with the G League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers, averaging 19.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 3.4 steals in 13 games. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard has appeared in 29 games (six starts) and has averaged 3.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists over his two-year NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. The former Oregon State standout averaged 14.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists over this two-year college career.
Major League Soccer
D.C. United, goalkeeper close to parting ways
David Ousted started half of D.C. United’s matches last season, but after tumbling on the goalkeeping depth chart over the past six months, he finally seems on his way out of Washington. Ousted, 33, reported to the first day of training camp Monday in Washington, but behind the scenes, United continues looking for ways to discard his guaranteed contract worth almost $400,000, an exorbitant sum for an Major League Soccer backup. That salary has scared off potential trade partners and apparently forced United to consider buying him out at the expense of team investors. MLS allows teams to buy out one guaranteed contract per preseason. Such a move clears the corresponding salary cap space. There is also a scenario in which United buys out a portion of his salary, knowing an MLS team has agreed to claim him off waivers and make up the financial difference. Bill Hamid, who supplanted Ousted as the starter last summer after rejoining United from the Danish league, is atop the depth chart.
More: Boca Juniors right back Leonardo Jara is scheduled to arrive in Washington on Wednesday. United is on the verge of acquiring Jara on loan for the 2019 season to fill a glaring void at that position. The club’s efforts to retain Argentine midfielder Yamil Asad (nine goals, eight assists) remain at a standstill, and the longer it stays that way, the less likely he returns to Washington. Asad was on loan last season from Argentina’s Velez Sarsfield. Donovan Pines, a University of Maryland defender and River Hill graduate who agreed to a homegrown contract, joined the team Monday as well. United will conduct testing and indoor workouts this week in the D.C. area before flying Sunday to Clearwater, Fla., its base of operations for most of the six weeks leading up to its March 3 opener against reigning champion Atlanta United at Audi Field.
— Steven Goff, The Washington Post
Horse racing
Cold temperatures cancel MLK program at Laurel
The Maryland Jockey Club canceled Monday’s nine-race Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday program at Laurel Park because of severe winter weather conditions. Live racing returns to Laurel with an eight-race program Thursday. Post time is 12:30 p.m.