TyTy Washington traded to OKC Thunder

On3 image — LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 31: Houston Rockets Guard TyTy Washington Jr. (0) works out before a NBA game between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers on October 31, 2022 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Former Kentucky guard TyTy Washington‘s time with the Atlanta Hawks is over before it even started.

No, really. The second-year guard was traded exactly one week ago from the Houston Rockets to Atlanta. Now, the Hawks are rerouting him to Oklahoma City where he will join Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace with the Thunder.

Washington joins Usman Garuba and Rudy Gay in the trade to OKC that will bring back guard Patty Mills for the Hawks — a cap-saving deal.

The Atlanta Hawks are trading TyTy Washington, Usman Garuba, Rudy Gay and a second-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Patty Mills, sources tell ESPN. Hawks save $4.5M in the deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 8, 2023

A first-round draft selection in 2022 at No. 29 overall, the former Wildcat played 32 games for the Rockets as a rookie, 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 Thunder in February.

Oklahoma City clearly liked what it saw then.

Washington’s biggest impact was felt 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.

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As a team, Washington helped lead the Vipers to the Finals of the playoffs for a second consecutive season, putting up 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 a one-week stint with the Hawks, he’s now joining two former Kentucky guards with the Thunder.