The Pistons have placed R.J. Hampton on waivers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The team has confirmed the move (via Twitter).
Hampton’s $1,997,238 salary for 2023/24 was non-guaranteed until July 6, so Detroit won’t owe him any further money. If he doesn’t get claimed off waivers, Hampton will become an unrestricted free agent and will be eligible to sign with any team.
The Pistons picked up the third-year shooting guard in February when he cleared waivers after being let go by the Magic. Hampton was signed to a minimum contract that was only guaranteed through the end of the season. He appeared in 21 games for Detroit, averaging 7.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 18.5 minutes per night.
Hampton, 22, was a highly touted prospect when he entered the NBA as the 24th pick in the 2020 draft. The Nuggets acquired him from Milwaukee in a draft night deal, but he lasted less than a season in Denver before being sent to Orlando at the trade deadline.
GS
R.J. Hampton was highly touted in high school. Spent a year overseas rather than college, and was not good.
One of the few draft errors made by Denver. They corrected the mistake within a year by trading him to Orlando.
22 years old and waived by one of the worst teams in the NBA last year. Gonna have a tough time sticking on a roster. May well have to head back overseas.
Giving up on 22 yr olds again. Why don’t you just let time decide. None of us know 100% the reasons he’s not further along. I suspect in time we will know. And who wouldn’t trade a rookie for Aaron Gordon ….
To me Orlando is not a place you go to develop your game. Since their inaugural season 89-90. The Magic have had 22 lottery picks. And it’s still a rebuild …….
link to basketball-reference.com
Evidently Denver and Detroit were NOT either. If you would have watched him play since HIGH SCHOOL …. and have called him VASTLY overrated since then. You will know that this isn’t “giving up” on a 22 year old. More than half the kids in his draft class are no longer in the league. Not Good Enough.
The kid was actually pretty savvy by going overseas. If he would have gone to college … He would not have been drafted.
Seriously what is the point of saying he won’t stick. Just cause Pistons cut him. They are filled with young talent. They can just be giving him an opportunity to go where he will get more attention. My point is we don’t know why he’s not playing. I’ve seen plenty of young guys get mismanaged. It might be his own fault. But why look for the worse. I’m sure there will be a time when e can say. He’s out the league or he’s a journey man. But why is that a thing. He’s still got plenty of time. You should wait till he really fails at NBA.
Still rebuilding Magic from 89-90? Who have the Knicks developed? The Knicks have won zero championships since the Magic entered the league and both franchises have been to two Finals in that time span. A Knicks fan talking about another team’s inability to develop talent, what a joke. T-Mac, D12 and Vuc all developed in Orlando.
I mean, Lakers can bring him in. Denver could bring him back. Raptors could bring him in. Nets. Quite a few teams could sign him as a depth piece on the cheap who have finicial concerns.
I think he signs on a minimum with the Suns. Plenty of playing time to go around with their lack of depth and the high risk of injury concerns with Durant and Beal
Good thing he didn’t go to college… certainly wouldn’t have been a first round pick then.
Probably wouldn’t of even made the NBA after the NCAA taught him a different version of basketball…
He probably would have been a higher pick had he gone to college. He instead went to the NBL and got hurt and played in only a handful of games which hurt his draft stock.
Yeah just like how everyone who goes to college gets worse.
Denver knew petty quickly he was not it
He isn’t nba material. This dude couldn’t hit water if he fell out of boat. Back overseas
If your comment is accurate, he will have zero percent chance of dying in a plane crash I guess.
So “back overseas” for a bad player, but wemby is super hyped based on his play in sub par overseas league??
No, he’s hyped based on his size and skill, duhh
I swear some people will do anything to argue, even if it means brining up false points.
He’s tall and lean. He’s never faced anything close to an nba defense or sized player. He looks like a twig. I’m not saying he won’t be amazing, I’m saying the hype is outrageous. Every couple of years we have a new best prospect ever based on physicals.
You act like he is the playing against pros and former nba players. Nobody in the nba his height either you just hating lmao
Or, more importantly, his size and skill.
Like, yes, sometimes there is too much hype for dudes who are just very tall and very long. But the reason there is so much hype for Wemby is that he’s very tall, very long, AND can regularly create his own shot, which is a huge deal
There are a lot of leagues overseas. Some can pay as little as $100 per game IF they pay you. NBA has made a number of changes with G-League and 2-way contracts to allow more players to play professionally in the USA, and earn a living.
LaMelo Ball bought the team he was playing for BEFORE he got drafted into the NBA.
He will be signed by the Celtics or by Utah…
At some point. The player has to take responsibility for his growth as a player. It’s not a long career unless you own it. You do t get better if you are not 100% committed. The “mamba mentality” is a real thing. Even for rotation or bench players.
Pistons have plenty of young talent. They also have so called reclamation players. That by NBA scouts have not progressed as they should …….. and so many are quick to call this a failure. Which fans grab on to and then run with it. As if they know who this person is. This is a very competitive field. So you don’t want your misses lingering around to remind everyone. Well
One persons misses is another persons hits.
Young players take time to develop. Why are we concerned about them failing. Yeah it sucks when your team misses. But you can always help them or steer them in the right way. It’s why there’s a stronger G-league today. Wise organizations like the Heat. Know how to use it. And have benefited from that …….
Pistons have a few of these so called misses on their roster. Bagley, Wiseman, Diallo, their own Hayes. Plus are heavy in guards. So they could just be doing RJ a favor.
He’s played 162 gms avg 18.8 mins in three yrs for three teams. So basically he hasn’t been developed by anyone yet. Talent alone isn’t enough to get you a roster spot. He should have been in G-league for first two yrs. He’s 21 yrs old …….
And arguably had a better stint in NBL than LaMelo
link to reddit.com