As expected, the Nuggets have waived recently-acquired guard Isaiah Whitehead, per the NBA’s official transactions log. Whitehead had been included in the trade between Denver and Brooklyn, which sent Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur, and draft picks to the Nets.
Whitehead, 23, was selected by the Nets with the 42nd overall pick in the 2016 draft and spent two seasons with the club, appearing in 89 overall games. The former Seton Hall standout was a regular part of Brooklyn’s rotation in his rookie season, but saw his playing time cut back in 2017/18 as he spent more time with the Long Island Nets in the G League. Whitehead averaged 22.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 3.5 APG in 30 games for the Nets’ NBAGL affiliate.
A Brooklyn native, Whitehead was disappointed to be included in last week’s trade, but there was no room for him in a Nets point guard rotation that will include D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Shabazz Napier. Similarly, the Nuggets had no need for another point guard with Jamal Murray, Isaiah Thomas, and Monte Morris in the mix.
Whitehead’s $1.54MM salary for 2018/19 was non-guaranteed, so Denver won’t be on the hook for his cap charge. He’ll become a free agent later this week, assuming he’s not claimed on waivers.
What a shame for the local boy, but I thought once they can get rid finally of Dinwiddie, maybe he could have had some playing time, but after the trade Denver needs more the money saving than his services so… who knows might be able to be reclaimed by Brooklyn as a free agent.
Is Brooklyn eligible to re-sign him? I thought when a player was traded they couldn’t re-sign for x number of months.
They’re not able to re-sign with their former team until either a year to the date of the trade if waived by their new team. They call it the “Zydrunas Ilgauskas rule” after he was traded for Antawn Jamison and was bought out by Wizards, then re-signed with CLE after 30 day waiting period.
I wanted to know the same thing too.
You right guys I completely forgot about that rule, I was just hoping for a fairytale ending for this guy, but ain’t looking good, sorry for the confusion guys.