BREAKING: 2021 NBA 1st-Round Pick Released By OKC Thunder
Usman Garuba was initially the 23rd pick in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets.
He has spent the previous two seasons with Houston but was traded twice over the offseason.
This past year, Garuba played in 75 regular season games and had averages of 3.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest while shooting 48.6% from the field and 40.7% from the three-point range.
Following the two trades, he was most recently a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he will not be playing a game for the franchise, as they have waived the 21-year-old.
Via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype: "The Oklahoma City Thunder has waived forward Usman Garuba, team says."
Garuba has played in a total of 99 regular season games and has career averages of 2.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest while shooting 47.5% from the field and 36.7% from the three-point range.
As a rookie, he appeared in five G League regular season games with averages of 9.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.4 blocks per contest while shooting 47.4% from the field (he also played in six Showcase Cup games).
Since he is a recent first-round pick (and still so young), there is no question that Garuba would be a good pickup for a rebuilding team.
As for the Thunder, they are coming off a year where they were the tenth seed in the Western Conference with a 40-42 record.
They beat the New Orleans Pelicans in their first play-in tournament game but lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second.
