OKC Thunder Waive Former 1st Round Pick Who Dominated G League

The Oklahoma City Thunder are a team solidly on the rise in the Western Conference, loaded with young talent. So loaded, in fact, that the team has had to waive a recent first-round NBA Draft pick. 

Guard TyTy Washington, who has been traded twice this summer, was the Houston Rockets' first-rounder in 2022 (29th overall) and has now been sent packing by the Thunder, making him an unrestricted free agent. 

Granted, the 6'3" point guard didn't have much of an impact for the Rockets in 31 games last year, averaging just 4.7 points and 1.5 assists in 14 minutes per contest, but he absolutely tore it up in the G League. 

TyTy Washington averaged 26.6 PTS, 6.6 REB, 7.6 AST as a rookie in the G League last season and 29/7/7 in the playoffs, as he led the RGV Vipers to the Finals.

On Jan 13, he even erupted for 53 PTS and 10 REB. There's plenty of upside there.#NBAGLeaguepic.twitter.com/HJPbKhMgKP https://t.co/MpfCNrvLoB

— Matt Evans (@Matt_Evans_6) August 19, 2023

Washington averaged 26.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 7.6 assists as a rookie in the G League, and doubled down on that talent in the playoffs, averaging 29 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in leading his Rio Grande Valley Vipers to the G League Finals. 

With a better than 3:1 AST:TOV ratio in his limited minutes for Houston, and those G League stats, he's already proven, at 21 years old, that he got good floor general talent. He will get picked up by an NBA team, and that team will have a steal of a talent.

Photo: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports