Adam Morrison, Sean Marks released

The Wizards on Thursday released former No. 3 overall pick Adam Morrison and 10-year veteran Sean Marks. Their roster now stands at 15, with Cartier Martin, Lester Hudson and Hamady Ndiaye still hoping to make the final roster on Oct. 25.

Morrison's agent, Aaron Mintz, confirmed the release in a text message earlier Thursday afternoon. The team made an official announcement a few hours later. Morrison, whom Michael Jordan chose as his first choice after joining the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006, won two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers the past two seasons but has not seen significant action since his rookie year in Charlotte. His career has never rebounded from a severe left knee injury suffered prior to his second year.

"Tough cuts," Saunders said. "Adam did a lot of positive things. He's just probably not there yet. I think there is no question that he can play in this league and can be effective, but the way our numbers were and everything else, Josh [Howard] is a little bit ahead of schedule, from where we think he is. It's not going to be as long as everyone anticipated.

Marks was the most experienced big man in camp, having served as "Tim Duncan's practice dummy" in San Antonio and also playing in Phoenix, Miami, Toronto and New Orleans. But the 35-year-old center never had an opportunity to display his abilities after pulling his right hamstring in the first week at George Mason's Patriot Center. Marks tried to return and aggravated the injury. He returned to practice on Monday but didn't appear in any preseason games.

"Sean was hurt a lot. It made it extremely tough," Saunders said. "We had so many big young guys, so it just became more of a numbers thing."

The roster is not finalized, Saunders said, with the Wizards planning to evaluate Martin, Hudson and Ndiaye over the next few days. The Wizards still need bodies for practice, with Josh Howard yet to recover from his left injury. They can also hold on to all three players without having their contracts become fully guaranteed until January.

"In this league, you're never on until you're on," Saunders said, adding that Martin, Hudson and Ndiaye "better approach every day like, they are not on. Especially with a young team and guys that are hungry to play. They've got opportunities and they've got to take advantage of those opportunities. They made it through the first couple of swings here but you got to still go out there with the positive attitude and go out there and produce everyday."