The Los Angeles Clippers have brought back former first-round pick TyTy Washington Jr., re-signing the 23-year-old guard just weeks after waiving him, according to The Athletic’s Law Murray.
The Clippers originally signed Washington Jr. to an Exhibit 10 contract in August but waived him on September 26 – days before the team’s official start of training camp. The timing of the move wasn’t overly unusual, as it paved the way to re-sign him to a new contract and potentially assign him to their G-League Affiliate, the San Diego Clippers.
This allows the Clippers to keep a close eye on Washington’s development and sign him to a full contract in the future.
“His scoring ability and potential make him a valuable prospect for the LA Clippers, especially as they look to build depth behind their veteran-heavy core led by James Harden and Kawhi Leonard,” The Playoffs’ Akash Vaishnav wrote on October 14.
The Clippers will waive John Poulakidas to make room for Washington Jr. on the 21-man roster, according to Murray.
TyTy Washington Jr. Still Hoping to Crack an NBA Rotation
TyTy Washington Jr. entered the NBA in the 2022 NBA Draft after the Memphis Grizzlies selected him No. 29th overall out of Kentucky.
Seen then as a passing point guard, who could potentially bump into a combo guard role, The Athletic’s draft expert Sam Vecenie wrote at the time. “I’m on the higher side [on Washington] because I tend to very strongly believe in guards who can dribble, pass, shoot and make decisions at a high level. I think that is more important than athleticism in the modern NBA, where hand-checking isn’t allowed.”
So far, he’s still looking to prove himself in the NBA. Washington has been rostered by a staggering seven teams in his three NBA seasons. Upon Memphis’ selection, he was immediately traded to Minnesota, which then flipped him to Houston during the 2022 NBA Draft. After a rookie season in Houston, he was traded to Atlanta before being shipped over to Oklahoma City. Ahead of training camp in 2023, he was waived by OKC and then signed to a two-way contract by the Milwaukee Bucks.
He spent the 2023-24 season in Milwaukee, appearing in just 11 games. Milwaukee declined signing him to a qualifying offer, which allowed the Phoenix Suns to sign him to a two-way contract in August of 2024. Washington appeared in 16 games for the Suns a season ago.
In 58 NBA games he holds averages of 3.3 points, 1.2 assists and 1.1 rebounds per game.
G-League Production Has Front Offices Hopeful
Throughout each of the past three seasons, Washington has put up decent stats in the G-League.
He’s played in 53 games in the development league with averages of 22.5 points, 7.6 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals a game, while shooting 46% from the field and 39% from deep. That kind of production will keep teams taking fliers on Washington, and is a big reason why the Clippers want to monitor the fourth-year guard.
It’s unconfirmed whether Washington will be in the Los Angeles Clippers’ lineup for their preseason game against the Sacramento Kings on October 15.
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