Oklahoma City Thunder waive TyTy Washington Jr.

TyTy Washington has already been a part of a handful of deals over his first year in the NBA. Now, the 21-year-old will be looking for his next team again based on the latest decision on him out of Oklahoma City earlier today.

Marc J. Spears reported earlier this afternoon that the Thunder had waived Washington. This comes after the Houston Rockets traded him earlier this summer to Atlanta where the Hawks subsequently dealt him to OKC.

The Oklahoma City Thunder say it has waived guard TyTy Washington Jr.

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 18, 2023

Washington was the 29th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves on draft night and they then shipped him to Houston.

Over his rookie season, Washington played in 31 games with a pair of starts for the Rockets. In those appearances, he averaged 4.7 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and half a steal in 14 minutes per game.

Washington was a five-star prospect, including a top-five point guard and Top-15 recruit overall, in 2021 according to On3’s Industry Ranking. He went on to play one season for Kentucky where he averaged 12.5 points, 3.9 assists, and 3.5 rebounds for the Wildcats in 31 games.

Had Washington remained with the Thunder, he would’ve teamed up with a pair of other Kentucky guards in OKC’s backcourt in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace. However, their depth in the backcourt when you include Luguentz Dort, as well as other young prospects like Josh Giddey, Isaiah Joe, and Tre Mann, likely didn’t help his chances of seeing much playing time or, in hindsight, remaining on the roster.

Gilgeous-Alexander speaks to Kentucky in Canada

John Calipari has made a habit of putting players into the NBA at Kentucky. The program’s success on that front has created several big-time names for the next groups of Wildcats to look up to.

After UK’s gold medal win over Canada at the GLOBL Jam in Toronto, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a former four-star for Kentucky as well as an All-Star and First Team All-NBA selection this past year, was the latest alumni to share words of wisdom to the newest group of ‘Cats.

"I love the way you guys play basketball … You guys play for each other."

🗣️ @shaiglalex pic.twitter.com/0TiSg5M0hL

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 17, 2023

Gilgeous-Alexander, a Canadian himself, was part of Kentucky’s No. 2 recruiting class back in 2017. He made his mark during his lone season in Lexington as averaged 14.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game in 37 games as a Wildcats. That production helped him eventually make the SEC All-Freshman Team and win the SEC Tournament MVP. He then led UK to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.

SGA was then the latest lottery pick for Kentucky in the NBA Draft as he went 11th overall in 2018. Over five seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers and Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 21.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. This past year was his best season yet as he posted overall career-highs in points (31.4), steals (1.6), and field-goal percentage (51%) en route to his first All-Star and All-NBA selections.