6:40pm: The Suns have officially signed Wainright, according to a release from the team (Twitter link via PHNX Sports’ Gerald Bourguet). As we outlined in a separate story, Theo Maledon was waived to open up a two-way slot for Wainright.
3:37pm: The Suns are signing free agent forward Ish Wainright to a two-way contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Wainright, 29, played 105 regular season games and 13 playoff contests with Phoenix from 2021-23. However, his non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract was released before the 2023/24 season began due to a roster crunch, and he was claimed off the waiver wire by the Trail Blazers.
Before he was claimed by Portland, a report stated that Phoenix had interest in bringing back Wainright, and several months later, that will come to fruition.
In part due to injuries, Wainright only appeared in seven games for the Blazers. They cut him in January before his contract became fully guaranteed, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Known more for his defense than his offense, Wainright has averaged 3.4 PPG and 1.8 RPG while shooting 33.1% from deep in 112 career regular season games over the past three seasons (11.8 MPG).
As Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports observes (Twitter link), the Suns currently have three players — the maximum allowed — on two-way contracts, but a report last week indicated Saben Lee was a strong candidate to be converted to a standard deal. If Lee is promoted to Phoenix’s open standard roster spot, the team wouldn’t need to release anyone to add Wainright, as he would just fill Lee’s vacated spot.