A recent report suggested the Washington Wizards had no willingness to trade Davis Bertans, who has surfaced as one of the palpable targets for teams looking for frontcourt shooting.

General manager Tommy Sheppard doubled down on that concept, saying the team has “every intention” of keeping him:

“We have every intention of retaining him,” said Sheppard, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “He's the exact type of player we want to have in our organization. I think he wants to be here. Business will take care of itself.”

The Wizards honed in on Bertans after the San Antonio Spurs were forced to let him walk to make room for Marcus Morris. Once Morris agreed to a one-year, $15 million deal with the New York Knicks, the Spurs were furious, as they were forced to let go of a good player to acquire him.

Washington pounced on the opportunity and acquired him in a three-team trade with the Spurs and Brooklyn Nets. He's making $7 million this season before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer, and he has chosen the best time to put up career-high numbers now that he's out of the basketball prison that San Antonio can be for role players like him.

Sheppard addressed the rumor mill and again said the Wizards love Bertans:

“There's so much chit-chat in this league that gets out there. Most of it is contrived by the teams that would love to have Davis,” said Sheppard. “Well, guess what? One of the teams that would have to have him, has him. We intend to keep him. We're excited about his growth.”

Bertans has nearly doubled his scoring average, going from 8.0 points to 15.4 as a member of the Wizards. He's shooting the 3 with great confidence, now sixth overall in the league with a 45.7% clip.