LEXINGTON — TyTy Washington will hope to observe within the footsteps of a number of current fellow Kentucky basketball alums after sliding within the NBA draft Thursday.
Projected as a lottery decide for a lot of the pre-draft course of, Washington fell to No. 29 total, the place he was picked by the Memphis Grizzlies with the next-to-last decide within the first spherical. Washington’s draft rights will probably be traded to the Houston Rockets, based on a number of experiences.
Washington’s slide marked the third consecutive draft a Kentucky guard had fallen additional than initially projected within the draft, however every of these gamers (Keldon Johnson, Tyrese Maxey and Brandon Boston) shortly outplayed their draft place within the NBA.
For a lot of his one season at Kentucky, Washington was the best freshman guard within the nation.
He averaged 12.5 factors, 3.5 rebounds and three.9 assists per recreation in 31 video games. Washington led the Southeastern Convention in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.35) and was named second-team All-SEC by league coaches.
Washington spent the vast majority of the season enjoying off the ball with junior Sahvir Wheeler dealing with level guard duties. However when Wheeler missed two video games with a neck harm, Washington proved greater than able to operating the offense, breaking John Wall’s school-record 17 assists within the Jan. 8 win over Georgia.
At his finest, Washington was an environment friendly scorer additionally able to getting his teammates concerned.
“He is just like the silent murderer,” Calipari mentioned after Washington totaled 15 factors on 6-of-9 taking pictures with 9 assists and one turnover in a win over Excessive Level in December. “Quietly, he tiptoes in and will get 15 factors and 9 assists, and should you ask me how he performed … you’ll in all probability say, he performed OK. … He does it quietly.”
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How did accidents have an effect on TyTy Washington’s play at Kentucky?
Washington constructed his NBA draft inventory in the course of the first half of Kentucky’s season because the model of the freshman guard on show down the stretch was not practically as efficient.
Washington first injured his ankle simply lower than 9 minutes into the Jan. 25 recreation at Auburn. He missed one recreation earlier than returning to hit simply 1 of 9 photographs in a Kentucky win at Kansas per week later.
Simply because it appeared Washington was regaining his momentum, he suffered one other leg harm within the Wildcats’ Feb. 12 win over Florida. He tried to play three days later at Tennessee however was restricted to 13 largely in efficient minutes. Washington sat out Kentucky’s subsequent two video games.
In his last six video games after coming back from the second ankle harm, Washington shot simply 35.2% from the sector. Within the season-ending loss to No. 15-seed Saint Peter’s, Washington transformed simply 2 of 10 photographs with one help and two turnovers.
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Might TyTy Washington turn into the most recent Kentucky basketball draft sleeper?
Whereas Washington was as soon as projected as a potential top-10 decide, sliding to the again half of the primary spherical may not be the pink flag it seems to be on paper.
Johnson (2019) and Maxey (2020) confronted related slides into the 20s of their respective NBA drafts however have shortly developed into invaluable starters for his or her NBA groups. Each former Wildcats averaged a minimum of 17 factors per recreation final season.
Immanuel Quickley has averaged double-digit factors per recreation in each seasons with the New York Knicks after being picked at No. 25 total in 2020 out of Kentucky. Even Boston, who struggled in a single season in Lexington and fell to the second spherical of the 2021 draft, exceeded expectations as a rookie for the Los Angeles Clippers final season.
E-mail Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com; Observe him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ.