TyTy Washington traded to Atlanta Hawks

With a logjam in the backcourt that includes Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Kevin Porter Jr., Jalen Green and Josh Christopher, the Houston Rockets have decided to move on from TyTy Washington.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reports the franchise will trade him and fellow former first-rounder Usman Garuba to the Atlanta Hawks.

Rockets are nearing a deal sending two former first-round picks, TyTy Washington Jr. and Usman Garuba, along with draft compensation to Atlanta, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2023

No confirmation on a return from Atlanta, though the move could create roughly $5 million in cap space for Houston, who met with free agent Dillon Brooks on Saturday.

A first-round draft selection in 2022 at No. 29 overall, the former Wildcat played 32 games for the Rockets, including two starts. He would finish the season averaging 4.7 points on 36.3% shooting and 23.8% from three while adding 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 14.0 minutes per game. The 6-foot-3 guard had five double-figure outings, including a career-high 20 points in a road loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder in February.

Where Washington thrived, though, was in the NBA G-League, suiting up for the Rockets’ affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The former Wildcat averaged 26.6 points and 7.6 assists per contest in the regular season, including a 53-point, 10-rebound effort in January. He became just the 24th player in G-League history to drop 50 points in a game.

As a team, Washington helped lead the Vipers to the Finals of the playoffs for a second consecutive season, dropping 34 points in game one and 38 points in game two.

During his time in Lexington, Washington was named a Jerry West Award semifinalist while also earning All-SEC Second Team and All-SEC Freshman Team selections. Appearing in 31 games with 29 starts, he finished the year averaging 12.5 points, 3.9 assists and 3.5 rebounds per contest.

Now after one year in the NBA, he’s on the move, taking his talents to Atlanta.