Tag: Usman Garuba

Report: Usman Garuba to leave NBA, return to Europe

The young big man is heading back to Europe after three seasons in the NBA.

Usman Garuba spent this past season on a two-way contract with the Golden State Warriors. He made six appearances for Steve Kerr’s team. Garuba was a regular for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League, starting 21 games and averaging 13.6 minutes. At 22 years old, Garuba is considered a young prospect who could improve enough to become a rotation player in the NBA.

However, it appears Garuba has decided to return to Europe in search of more consistent playing time. According to EuroHoops, the 23rd pick in the 2021 NBA draft is returning to Real Madrid, where he will replace the outgoing Vincent Poirier, who is heading to the Turkish league.

“Real Madrid has convinced Usman Garuba to leave the NBA and return to Europe, per Eurohoops sources, joining the EuroLeague finalists with a long-term contract,” EuroHoops reported. “The 22-year-old Garuba, a product of the junior teams of Real Madrid got drafted in 2021 and left the Spanish powerhouse for the NBA where in three years he played 105 games (99 with the Rockets and six with Golden State).”

Garuba could return to the NBA. For now, though, he believes heading back to Europe and securing consistent playing time at an elite level is best for his development. Madrid is among the best European teams and consistently competes in the EuroLeague.

With this move, Garuba returns to the team that helped him develop into an NBA prospect. For now, his time in the NBA looks to be over.

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Report: Warriors sign Spain’s Usman Garuba to two-way deal

The Warriors have reportedly added some depth in the front court with a two-way contract.

With training camp looming, the Golden State Warriors are beginning to finalize their final roster spots. After reports surfaced of veteran center Dwight Howard meeting with the Warriors next week, Mike Dunleavy Jr. added another piece to the frontcourt on Friday morning.

According to Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic, the Warriors signed Spanish big man Usman Garuba to a two-way contract. Garuba will fill one of the three two-way deals for the Warriors.

Via @ShamsCharania on Twitter:

https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1702732011796901946?s=20

Garuba was drafted with the No. 23 pick in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. Garuba spent two seasons with the Rockets, averaging 2.8 points on 47.5% shooting from the field with 3.9 rebounds per contest.

Garuba will provide some much-needed depth around Kevon Looney, Dario Saric and Draymond Green.

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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Report: Former Thunder Usman Garuba signs two-way deal with Warriors

Usman Garuba joins his fourth team of the offseason as a two-way addition by the Warriors.

The Golden State Warriors signed former Oklahoma City Thunder center Usman Garuba to a two-way deal, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

Garuba’s stay with the Thunder was short. He was part of a multiplayer trade with the Atlanta Hawks in July. His OKC tenure lasted a little more than a month as the Thunder waived him in late August.

The 2021 first-round pick now joins his fourth team of the offseason by signing a two-way deal with the Warriors. He spent his first two seasons with the Houston Rockets, averaging 2.8 points and 3.9 rebounds.

Garuba’s former teammate, TyTy Washington Jr., was also part of the Hawks trade after both spent a year in Houston together. After a brief summer league stint, Washington Jr.’s time with the Thunder also came to a quick end when they waived him in August.

Washington Jr. signed a two-way deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.

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Podcast: Rockets’ future draft outlook, FIBA Dillon Brooks takeaways

How should #Rockets fans feel about their future NBA draft assets? Today’s @TheLagerLine explains why the value is potentially underrated.

Our latest episode of “The Lager Line” features insight on Houston’s future NBA draft outlook relative to other teams, and why it could be better than a recent Bleacher Report article believes.

The updated list of first- and second-round draft assets for the Rockets through 2030 is available here, and it includes both unprotected assets arriving from Brooklyn and protected picks that could go to Oklahoma City. As part of the podcast, hosts Ben DuBose and Paulo Alves explain why understanding those protections is critically important, including for potential trade purposes.

Other discussion topics include takeaways from Dillon Brooks’ strong performance on Canada’s 2023 FIBA World Cup team, as well as the implications of Oklahoma City waiving former Rockets prospects Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington Jr. and what it tells fans about Rockets general manager Rafael Stone.

Today’s podcast, which is sponsored by Clutch City Lager of Karbach Brewing, can be listened to below in its entirety. Each episode of the show is also made available via flagship radio station SportsTalk 790 and all major podcast distributors under “The Lager Line.”

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OKC Thunder waive Usman Garuba

The Thunder continue to trim their roster down.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder announced on Monday they had waived forward Usman Garuba.

The Thunder acquired Garuba in a multi-player trade this offseason with the Atlanta Hawks. This news comes days after TyTy Washington Jr. was also released by OKC.

The 21-year-old spent his first two seasons with the Houston Rockets, with whom he averaged 2.8 points and 3.9 rebounds. He was drafted 23rd in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft.

Garuba is representing Spain in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

The Thunder continue to make roster decisions as they trim their roster to 15 full-time players by the start of the 2023-24 season.

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2023 FIBA World Cup: 3 Thunder players represented in Canada’s 85-80 OT exhibition win vs. Spain

Instant reactions and highlights from Canada’s OT win over Spain as SGA, Lu Dort and Usman Garuba shared the floor.

With the 2023 FIBA World Cup inching closer, Canada and Spain scheduled an exhibition game to prepare for the tournament.

Canada escaped with an overtime win against Spain, 85-80. This is the second consecutive friendly that resulted in an overtime win for Canada.

Both teams have Oklahoma City Thunder representatives on their rosters: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort with Canada and Usman Garuba with Spain.

In 33 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists. He went 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.

The 25-year-old had a chance to win this game at the end of regulation but missed a turnaround wing 3 that resulted in overtime.

Dort struggled in his outing. In 19 minutes off the bench, he went scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting and grabbed three rebounds. Despite the lack of production, he played critical minutes down the stretch in both the fourth quarter and overtime.

The biggest surprise of the OKC trio was Garuba. While Gilgeous-Alexander led the game in scoring, that is expected of him after he finished No. 5 in MVP voting last season.

Garuba — on the other hand — has been mostly an afterthought when it comes to the Thunder’s roster construction discourse. That will quickly change though if he continues to put up similar performances as he did against two of his OKC teammates.

In 23 minutes, Garuba finished with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, eight rebounds and a ridiculous five steals. Playing with several other NBA players on the court, the recently acquired Thunder player was one of the louder guys in the game.

Full box scores for both Canada and Spain can be viewed below:

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Let’s look at instant reactions and highlights from Canada’s five-point overtime exhibition win.

Usman Garuba talks about his fit with the OKC Thunder

Usman Garuba talked with @marca about his fit with the Thunder.

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One of the newest additions to the Oklahoma City Thunder roster was third-year center Usman Garuba.

After spending his first two seasons with the Houston Rockets, Garuba was acquired by the Thunder in a multi-player trade with the Atlanta Hawks. He will fight for a roster spot during training camp: He is near the bottom of the depth chart on OKC’s 21-player roster.

Practicing with Spain for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Garuba talked about being traded to the Thunder with Spain’s media outlet Marca’s Nacho Duke. In his interview, he talked about how much contact he’s had with the Thunder and what he expects during his time in OKC.

“They have told me that they trust me a lot, that they think I was not in the right situation in Houston and I agree with them,” Garuba said. “The Thunder are a team whose style of play can come in handy for me, and from the times I’ve played against them, I think I can benefit a lot from that system.”

Garuba also complimented the Thunder’s young core, mentioning how their style fits him.

“It is a young team, but they compete a lot,” Garuba said. “They have done it this season. I admire them a lot after having seen and played against them.”

Garuba was drafted 23rd in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft. In two seasons, he averaged 2.8 points and 3.9 rebounds.

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OKC Thunder officially announce full details of multiplayer trade with Hawks

Full details of the multi-player trade can be found here:

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The Oklahoma City Thunder officially announced their multiplayer trade with the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

The Thunder acquired Rudy Gay, Usman Garuba, TyTy Washington Jr. and a 2026 second-round pick from the Hawks in exchange for Patty Mills, who was officially acquired on July 7 in a five-team trade.

The three players were rerouted to the Thunder after being on two other teams since the beginning of the offseason. Gay ended last season with the Utah Jazz and picked up his $6.5 million player option. Garuba and Washington Jr. were on the Houston Rockets as 2021 and 2022 first-round picks, respectively.

The deal saves the Hawks $4.6 million in cap space. The trio is set to make a combined $11.4 million next season; meanwhile, Mills is on an expiring $6.8 million salary.

With the Thunder already facing a roster crunch, odds are none of the three players acquired will be with OKC by the start of the 2023-24 season. It’s already been reported that Garuba and Washington Jr. could have a market as young prospects on cost control deals.

The Thunder also add another second-round draft pick to their arsenal. They’ve used their $32 million in cap space this summer to essentially buy draft capital by absorbing bloated expiring deals.

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Report: Thunder acquire TyTy Washington, Usman Garuba, Rudy Gay, draft pick from Hawks

A lot of details in this trade as OKC continues to make moves.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to wheel and deal this offseason, as they completed another trade on Saturday.

The Thunder acquired TyTy Washington, Usman Garuba, Rudy Gay and a second-round pick from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Patty Mills, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The trade saves the Hawks $4.5 million. Mills owns an expiring salary of $6.8 million.

This ends Mills’ short tenure with the Thunder. He was acquired from the Houston Rockets in a multi-team trade that also landed OKC three second-round picks.

Washington and Garuba were shipped out by the Hawks to shed salary. Washington is a 2022 first-round pick and Garuba is a 2021 first-round pick, so both are on their standard four-year rookie deals.

According to Wojnarowski, both Washington and Garuba have multiple teams interested in them as potential young projects. With the Thunder’s roster already stacked with young talent, perhaps they could acquire additional draft picks for both young players.

The Thunder currently own 35 draft picks over the next seven years.

Meanwhile, Gay was also moved for a second time after he was traded to the Hawks from the Utah Jazz. The 36-year-old picked up his $6.5 million player option for next season.

The Thunder essentially acquired four second-round picks and two young prospects for absorbing Mills’ $6.8 million salary and actually end up saving $0.3 million in Gay’s salary following the trade. A smart usage of cap space for a team that had money to spend.

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Rockets trade Usman Garuba, TyTy Washington to open more salary cap space

The #Rockets are reportedly trading third-year forward Usman Garuba, second-year guard TyTy Washington, and two future second-round picks to Atlanta for the draft rights to Alpha Kaba.

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The Houston Rockets are trading third-year forward Usman Garuba and second-year guard TyTy Washington to the Atlanta Hawks in a move designed to clear salary cap space, according to multiple media reports published Saturday afternoon.

Garuba ($2.6-million salary in 2023-24) and Washington ($2.3 million) were late first-round picks in the 2021 and 2022 drafts, respectively, and had played only sparingly to this point in their young NBA careers. With the Rockets transitioning to more of a win-now emphasis next season, it wasn’t clear if either prospect would receive enough playing time to develop if they stayed in Houston.

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has more:

The Rockets moved to clear some of the glut of recent first-round picks on the roster, reaching agreement on a deal to trade TyTy Washington Jr. and Usman Garuba to the Atlanta Hawks.

The Rockets will also trade their own second-round pick in 2028 and a Timberwolves second-round pick in 2025 along with $1.1 million, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The Rockets will received the draft rights to Alpha Kaba, the last pick of the 2017 draft. Kaba, who plays in Montenegro, has not played in the NBA or G League.The Athletic first reported the teams were working on a trade.

Since Kaba isn’t yet playing in the NBA, he won’t count towards Houston’s salary cap books this offseason.

The Rockets landed top guard target Fred VanVleet on Friday, but they missed out Saturday on Brook Lopez, who was believed to be Houston’s top target for a defensive oriented big man.

Thus, the clearing of more financial space beneath the 2023-24 salary cap could potentially be used as the Rockets formulate a plan to fill the slot that would otherwise have gone to Lopez.

By shedding Washington and Garuba, Houston should have near $30 million in room beneath the salary cap, as compared to about $25 million previously. The Rockets are also believed to be pursuing former Memphis wing Dillon Brooks in free agency, though Houston’s interest in Brooks is primarily due to his perimeter defense. Thus, the big-man role would still need to be filled elsewhere.

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