Wizards waive former Warriors guard Ryan Rollins
The former second-round pick will be looking for a third NBA team.
Former Golden State Warriors guard Ryan Rollins is in search of a new home. The Washington Wizards announced on Monday night that the sharpshooter had been waived.
Official: We have waived guard Ryan Rollins.
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) January 9, 2024
Rollins, a 21-year old 6’4 shooting guard, was the No. 44 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The Warriors traded the No. 51 pick and cash to the Atlanta Hawks for the opportunity to select Rollins, and promptly signed him to a three-year contract with a partially-guaranteed third year. While the team liked Rollins, the move was largely viewed as one made to help the Warriors fill out the roster for the smallest tax hit.
Unfortunately, injuries plagued Rollins’ short tenure with the Dubs. He appeared in just 12 games as a rookie, tallying 62 minutes and 23 points. In June, he was traded to the Wizards as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Jordan Poole to DC and brought Chris Paul to the Bay Area.
Rollins couldn’t get off the bench for the Wizards, either. He played in just 10 games and saw just 66 minutes of action, and has spent some time in the G League. Still, Washington releasing him is a little surprising. For starters, Rollins had good stats in the minutes he did play for the Wizards: per 36 minutes, he averaged 22.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 4.4 steals, while shooting 52.0% from the field and sporting a 63.1% true-shooting percentage. Admittedly that’s a small sample size of mostly garbage-time minutes, but still. Furthermore, Rollins is still owed a bit of money: his fully-guaranteed salary for the 2023-24 season is $1.7 million, and he’s guaranteed $600,000 for next year’s partially-guaranteed deal.
Given that the Wizards are one of the worst teams in the league, it seems like a bit of a bizarre move.