Bubble Watch: Can TyTy Washington make the OKC Thunder’s Roster?

The Case for TyTy Washington to make the roster

TyTy Washington Jr is only in his second year as an NBA and has a lot of NBA potential that hasn’t been tapped into yet. Before the 2022 NBA draft, Washington Jr was seen as a consensus top twenty prospect heading into the draft in the same range as players like the Thunder’s Jalen Williams and the Mavericks’ Jaden Hardy.

The Thunder organization is big on developing its young players, and Washington Jr needs better than what he got to show in Houston. Because of that, Washington Jr isn’t even close to reaching his potential, and giving up on him this early seems premature.

During his rookie season with the Rockets, he did not get to showcase his skills in the limited minutes that he got. He was playing off-ball, with Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr getting most of the on-ball duties. Before his ankle injury at Kentucky, Washington Jr was a productive on-ball and off-ball with a near 2.5 assist-to-turnover ration and shot a respectable thirty-five percent from three.

His  per 40 minutes numbers were really good in college, and if you still believe in his potential, those are numbers you can point to as a positive sign for his development. Washington Jr needs to be given a chance and get substantial minutes to develop and improve at shooting and moving off the ball. The question remains if he can with where this Thunder team is currently.