The Orlando Magic head into Las Vegas Summer League without a headlining young player from this year's draft, having given up their first-round pick in the Desmond Bane trade. Jase Richardson and Noah Penda will be present from the 2025 NBA Draft. A variety of undrafted rookies and hopeful G League players fill out the roster.
One of the most intriguing players suiting up for the Magic in the desert is TyTy Washington, a former Kentucky Wildcats point guard who most recently played for the LA Clippers last season. While he does not fit the "type" that Orlando usually pursues for its roster, he might just have enough scoring pop to earn a longer look.
TyTy Washington has plenty of sizzle
Washington entered the NBA Draft in 2022 as a darling of public draft analysts. He was one of those mystical John Calipari guards, forced into an inopportune role at Kentucky and ready to break free. He was a knockdown shooter and savvy passer whose skill level would overcome his lack of size and athleticism.
The jury appears to still be out as to whether he can earn a full-time NBA role, but that skill level has been on full display at lower levels. Across four seasons in the G League, Washington has averaged 22.2 points and 7.3 assists in the regular season, shooting 39.6 percent from deep.
In the G League playoffs, those numbers go up to 32.6 points per game, 8.3 assists, 7.6 rebounds and a trio of made threes per game at the same 39 percent clip. At that level, he is a monster with the ball.
Washington needs a chance to shine
Somewhat strangely, however, no team has parlayed his success into a role at the NBA level. Washington has played for four different teams over his four seasons in the league. The Houston Rockets gave him 31 games as a rookie on a bad team, but he had a small role and was inefficient.
Since then, the Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns and LA Clippers have played him for an average of 14 games each. His lack of separation is certainly a problem, but he is essentially only playing garbage time without a real chance to show his skill level.
Last season with the Clippers, Washington was dominant in the G League and made good use of his limited minutes in the big league. He averaged seven assists, 2.5 steals and even 1.2 blocks per 36 minutes, squeezing as much lemonade as possible from the handful of lemons he was given.
Still only 24 years old, Washington can absolutely play. He may not be the big, athletic guard that the Magic tend to gravitate toward, but he has incredible skill. It seems like a team could give him a chance to show he has it at the NBA level.
Will the Magic give him a chance?
Is Orlando the team to do that? Perhaps not, but they don't have a player on the bench with his skillset. It's not unthinkable that he could earn a spot with the team.
If he is going to do so, however, he will need to absolutely ball out in Summer League. That would be the first step to earning a Training Camp invitation.
The time is now for Washington to prove he is an NBA player, before the clock runs out and he heads overseas for a different kind of career.
Will the Clippers regret not holding onto him if the Magic end up stealing a real NBA player?
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