The Thunder have waived guard TyTy Washington Jr., the team announced today. Washington will clear waivers and become a free agent on Sunday, assuming he goes unclaimed.
The 29th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Washington appeared in 31 games as a rookie with the Rockets last season, averaging 4.7 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per night. He put up an underwhelming shooting line of .363/.238/.556 in those 31 games.
The former Kentucky standout was more effective at the G League level, averaging 23.0 PPG, 6.0 APG, and 4.6 RPG in 18 Showcase Cup and regular season games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. However, he still struggled to score efficiently, making 44.2% of his shot attempts from the field and just 31.7% from beyond the three-point line.
The Rockets, apparently viewing Washington as expendable with so many other promising young players on their roster, included him as an outgoing salary-matching piece in the five-team trade that sent Dillon Brooks to Houston via sign-and-trade. The 21-year-old was sent to Atlanta in that deal, then was flipped to Oklahoma City in a salary-dump trade that made Patty Mills a Hawk.
Washington had been a long shot to make the Thunder’s roster, since the team was carrying 20 players on standard contracts and needed to trade or waive at least five of those players before opening night. The fact that OKC has already cut Washington – who was owed a guaranteed $2.32MM salary in 2023/24 – suggests there were no good options for him on the trade market.
While it’s not out of the question that a team will claim Washington on waivers, it seems unlikely, given his negative trade value this summer. A club interested in placing a claim would need to have cap room or a trade exception available to absorb his salary, which eliminates much of the league.
Assuming Washington becomes a free agent, the Thunder would owe him his 2023/24 salary but would be off the hook for the $2.43MM and $4.39MM team options on his contract for ’24/25 and ’25/26. Washington would be eligible for a standard contract with any team except Atlanta and a two-way deal with any team except the Hawks or Thunder.
Oklahoma City now has 20 players under contract — 16 on guaranteed salaries, three (Jack White, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe) on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals, and Keyontae Johnson on a two-way pact.
T-Wolves should claim him. I’m pretty sure they have an open roster spot.
Al is going to be all over this. He loves TyTy
Talented …. I hope he’s alright….
Hoping he’s a knick too I bet
A RSC guy being released after 1 season is a first in my memory. Strange one and done. He had a good close to his FR year, but was generally a disappointment prior to that. His numbers were pedestrian.
Been planning on being 1-and-done since 8th grade and everybody close to him was banking on the same thing. Parents want “reparations” from AAU asap.
Kids trying to rush to the money and end up with a quarter when they could’ve got two dollars.
Unfortunately, other kids/parents won’t learn from him…
“Not me…”.
“Not my kid… he’s READY!!!”
Too familiar a story. When the NBA restarts drafting HS players, it would be great if they do it in a manner that ends the AAU’s hold on this sport. With the current commissioner, that’s unlikely.
The AAU/Travel Team hold on the sport has now been lifted. The top players are typically already being paid before their senior year of high school. College recruiting has shifted away from recruiting high school players in favor of recruiting out of the Transfer Portal. The Transfer Portal is the college version of free agency. Colleges are more and more opting for free agents rather than signing high school talent. The top schools prefer to “buy” their players after they have “proven” themselves at the collegiate level.
At least according to the college coaches I know, the shift in college recruiting is not by preference. It’s a necessity. The combination of the portal (transfer upon demand with immediate eligibility) and NIL (pay for play) make it impractical to have a program that prioritizes player development. You’ll be developing guys to leave for a program that can pay them more. HS players are evaluated for what they can do immmediately, which means if you’re not a top 100 recruit, you’re not a priority. Not sure that’s sustainable through multiple cycles. Somebody has to develop the players as more than an afterthought.
The preference has become to recruit from the Portal. Players have college experience and resumes.
You are correct that it is very impractical to both develop, or to find hidden talent. They will either turn pro, or leave for a program offering more money.
You are correct that high school recruiting is for the immediate. Need to be able to impact immediately. There is no loyalty on either side. College teams are pretty much rebuilding close to their entire roster every year right now.
Hopefully the NBA doesn’t start letting kids come out of HS again anytime soon.
I don’t know wats up. What I saw in college was big upside. He is really more a true PG. I thought he could start one day. I definitely chk him out.
Bye-bye TyTy.
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Needs to go overseas or g league where he can play actual minutes and sharpen his game up before coming back.
TyTy has been living off of his high school reputation since his junior year of high school. Creighton fans are enjoying this. He was committed and set to go there until Kentucky came calling.
He needs a lot of work right now. He should give Washington a hard look. Not only is Washington rebuilding, but they have an even bigger bust currently taking a roster in spot in Johnny Davis. This is the roster spot he would want to try and take, and prove that he can still play in the league.
TyTy needs some serious grooming in his game and hit the weights. He was over matched last year and was surprised by how much he was under matched even against some weaker players. If he can apply some muscle and improve his overall game, he can be a cheaper version of Mobley from the Cavs.
Tyty is line a foot shorter than Mobley. The only thing they have in common is the need to gain weight.
Tyty might be a good pickup for the Cavaliers. That said I’d rather they use Ty Jerome and Craig Porter Jr to cover Rubio’s minutes.
Better hope Wallace will be better than Washington. Could of drafted lively, put Chet at the 4, not take on bertans contract, make the Houston trade and release guruba or whatever. S Presti only mistake really was trading harden instead of Perkins. Should of kept Westbrook, harden, Durant, Ibaka and find a cheap center. Hopefully this isn’t another mistake. Dallas drafted the hometown kid to just trade him.
Should have paid money to keep Harden. KD was always going to leave and showed it by not taking the money OKC saved for him.
Realizing he would never win. Westbrook doing Westbrook was bugging him. Maybe if they worked with Westbrook or better backup clutch PG along with doing a better job they could of kept Westbrook. They didn’t want to pay harden a extra 4 or 5 million a year. Should of spoiled Durant
Spurs should call