Chandler Hutchison

Chandler Hutchison To Retire

Former first-round pick Chandler Hutchison has decided to “step away” from basketball, he confirmed on his Instagram account.

An announcement from Hutchison’s G League team, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, first indicated that the 26-year-old had decided to retire. The Skyforce – Miami’s NBAGL affiliate – buried the news in a press release about the team acquiring forward Wayne Stewart, and Hutchison subsequently shared his own announcement in his Instagram story.

“Due to personal reasons I have decided to step away from playing basketball at this time and assess what is best for my future moving forward,” Hutchison wrote. “I don’t know what the future holds, but I truly believe God has a plan and this is a step in reaching something greater than I could ever imagine. Thank you and God bless!”

Hutchison’s announcement doesn’t explicitly mention retirement, so it’s possible he intends to take a hiatus and attempt a comeback at some point down the road.

If he doesn’t return to basketball, the former Boise State standout will finish his career having appeared in 103 total NBA games for the Bulls, Wizards, and Suns. He averaged 5.4 PPG and 3.7 RPG on .442/.309/.643 shooting in 17.4 minutes per contest.

Hutchison spent his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons in Chicago before being sent to Washington as part of a three-team trade at the 2021 deadline. He was subsequently flipped to San Antonio in a five-team offseason trade and was waived by the Spurs.

His last stint on the NBA was on a two-way deal with the Suns in the first half of the 2021/22 season. He was cut by Phoenix this past January and has been playing in the G League since then.

Hutchison was off to a good start in Sioux Falls this season, averaging 16.6 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 2.4 APG on .475/.615/.625 shooting in five games (33.8 MPG).

Summer League Commitments: Hawks, Kings, Mavericks, Sixers

Free agent swingman Chandler Hutchison has agreed to play summer league with the Hawks, a league source told Hoops Rumors. Hutchison has spent time with the Bulls, Wizards and Suns since being drafted with the 22nd overall pick in 2018.

The 26-year-old joined Phoenix on a two-way contract this past season. Upon being waived in January, he joined the Heat’s G League affiliate, where he averaged 11.4 points in 20 games.

There’s more summer league news tonight:

  • The Kings have received a commitment from guard DJ Steward to play in Las Vegas, a source told Hoops Rumors. Steward attended training camp with the team in the fall. He averaged 14.6 points per game in the G League this season.
  • Former Boise State star Derrick Alston Jr. will play summer league with the Mavericks, Hoops Rumors has learned. Alston played for the Jazz’s G League affiliate this season, averaging 18.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
  • The Sixers are adding Cassius Winston and Justin Smith to their summer league roster, according to sources. Winston, 24, has spent time with the Wizards on a two-way contract, while Smith, 23, briefly played for the Raptors’ G League affiliate this past season.

Chandler Hutchison Signs G League Contract

Former first-round pick Chandler Hutchison has signed an NBA G League contract, according to our JD Shaw (Twitter links), who reports that the forward is being acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat‘s NBAGL affiliate.

Hutchison, 25, has appeared in a total of 103 NBA games for the Bulls, Wizards, and Suns since being selected 22nd overall by Chicago in the 2018 draft. After averaging 20.0 PPG with a .359 3PT% in his final college season at Boise State in 2017/18, he has struggled to score consistently at the NBA level, recording 5.4 PPG on .442/.309/.643 shooting in 17.4 minutes per contest.

Following two-and-a-half seasons with the Bulls, Hutchison was traded from Chicago to Washington at the 2021 trade deadline, then was flipped to San Antonio in the five-team offseason blockbuster that included Russell Westbrook and Spencer Dinwiddie. The Spurs waived him and Hutchison caught on with the Suns in the fall, signing a two-way contract with the defending Western Conference champs. However, he was cut by Phoenix last month after logging just 22 total minutes in six games.

Hutchison has seven career G League appearances, but those all occurred while he was on a standard or two-way NBA contract and was assigned to the NBAGL. This is the first time he has signed an outright G League contract without an NBA team holding his rights.

Any NBA team with an available roster spot (or a hardship exception) would be free to call up Hutchison if he impresses during his stint with the Skyforce.

Chandler Hutchison Cut By Suns

The Suns have opted to release small forward Chandler Hutchison, who had been occupying one of their two-way contract slots, per JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).

The 6’6″ swingman was selected with the No. 22 pick by the Bulls out of Boise State in 2018, but struggled to stay healthy during his Chicago tenure. He was eventually shipped to Washington during the 2020/21 season. After an uneventful time in Washington, Hutchison latched on with the Suns this season. The forward holds career averages of 5.4 PPG on .442/.309/.643 shooting and 3.7 RPG in 17.1 MPG for 103 games played between the Bulls, Wizards and Suns.

Hutchison appeared in just six contests with Phoenix, averaging 3.7 MPG. In six games with NBA G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors this season, Hutchison averaged 6.0 PPG and 2.7 RPG over 21.7 MPG.

With the loss of Hutchison, power forward Ish Wainright becomes the Suns’ only two-way player for now.

Suns Sign Chandler Hutchison To Two-Way Contract

SEPTEMBER 8: Hutchison is on a two-way deal, per NBA.com. The Suns are now carrying 14 players on standard contracts and one on a two-way contract.


SEPTEMBER 7: The Suns have officially signed free agent wing Chandler Hutchison, the team announced today in a press release. Hutchison was cut by San Antonio on Saturday and cleared waivers on Monday.

Hutchison, 25, has appeared in a total of 97 NBA games for the Bulls and Wizards since being selected 22nd overall in the 2018 draft. After averaging 20.0 PPG with a .359 3PT% in his final college season at Boise State in 2017/18, he has struggled to score consistently at the NBA level, recording 5.7 PPG on .441/.309/.638 shooting in 18.2 minutes per contest.

Hutchison was traded from Chicago to Washington at this year’s trade deadline, then was flipped to San Antonio in the five-team trade that included Russell Westbrook and Spencer Dinwiddie. The Spurs also got a 2022 second-round pick in that deal for taking on Hutchison, signaling that he was a salary dump who wasn’t in the team’s plans.

In Phoenix, Hutchison will join a team that had been carrying just 14 players, all on guaranteed standard contracts. The Suns don’t have luxury tax concerns, so they could comfortably carry a 15th man in the regular season. For now, it looks like Hutchison is the frontrunner to fill that spot, though we don’t yet know the terms of his new contract.

Southwest Notes: Doncic, Kidd, Forbes, Celtics, Grizzlies

Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic recently praised new head coach Jason Kidd, calling the chance to play for the 12-time All-Star an “excellent opportunity,” as relayed by BasketNews.com.

“I think he’s an excellent coach who also knows a lot about how to play basketball and how to lead a team,” Doncic said. “It is an excellent opportunity for me to grow and I think it will help me a lot.”

The 22-year-old Doncic is coming off yet another impressive season, averaging 27.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game. Doncic also expressed confidence that the Mavericks, led by the likes of himself, Kristaps Porzingis, and Tim Hardaway Jr., have an opportunity to compete for a championship in 2021/22.

“As I say, that is my goal and I believe that you can always fight,” he explained. “We’ll see how the season goes, but in my opinion we can be there, fighting for everything. I do not know if we need one or two players. We first have to start playing and then we will see what happens.”

There’s more out of the Southwest Division tonight:

  • Spurs guard Bryn Forbes has hired Octagon for his new representation, the agency announced on social media (Twitter link). Forbes signed with San Antonio last month after spending the 2020/21 season with the NBA champion Bucks. Prior to joining Milwaukee, the 28-year-old sharpshooter played his first four seasons with San Antonio, appearing in 261 games. He was previously represented by Excel Sports Management.
  • Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com (Insider link) rates the CelticsGrizzlies trade featuring Kris Dunn, Carsen Edwards and Juan Hernangomez, giving Boston a grade of B and Memphis a C. As we previously relayed, Boston is set to trade Dunn, Edwards and a 2026 second-round pick swap to Memphis in exchange for Hernangomez.
  • In case you missed it, the Spurs decided to waive 25-year-old forward Chandler Hutchison this weekend. San Antonio acquired Hutchison as part of a five-team August trade. He appeared in 25 contests with the Bulls and Wizards last season, averaging 5.7 points and 18.2 minutes per contest.

Spurs Waive Chandler Hutchison

7:12pm: The move is official, tweets Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News.


4:40pm: The Spurs plan to release small forward Chandler Hutchison, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.

Hutchison’s salary for the upcoming season is guaranteed, so San Antonio will owe him the full amount of $4,019,459. He was acquired from the Wizards in a five-team trade last month.

Washington picked up the 25-year-old from the Bulls at the trade deadline in March. He appeared in 18 games with the Wizards, averaging 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per night.

Chicago selected Hutchison with the 22nd pick in 2018, but he was never able to able to develop a consistent role. He played just seven games for the Bulls last season and sat out nearly two months before the trade for what the team listed as personal reasons.

The Spurs had 17 guaranteed contracts, so at least one more will need to be waived or traded to get down to the regular season roster limit. They have 16 players signed for camp, plus Joe Wieskamp set to fill one of the two-way slots. Keita Bates-Diop remains a restricted free agent and could fill the other two-way opening.

Five-Team Russell Westbrook, Spencer Dinwiddie Trade Now Official

The five-team trade involving the Lakers, Wizards, Nets, Spurs, and Pacers, headlined by Russell Westbrook (to Los Angeles) and Spencer Dinwiddie (to Washington) is now official, according to press releases from multiple clubs.

The deal began as a two-team trade sending Westbrook from the Wizards to the Lakers, an agreement that was completed around the start of the draft last Thursday. Later that night, the Wizards and Pacers agreed to a deal sending Aaron Holiday that would be folded into the Westbrook blockbuster.

Subsequently, during free agency, the Wizards and Dinwiddie wanted to find a way to get the point guard to D.C. and ultimately convinced the Nets to accommodate a sign-and-trade. The Spurs entered the mix late to accommodate Washington’s salary-dump of Chandler Hutchison.

Here’s the full breakdown of the deal, based on reports to date:

  • To Lakers:
    • Russell Westbrook (from Wizards)
    • The Bulls’ 2023 second-round pick (from Wizards)
    • Either the Wizards’ or Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Wizards)
    • The Wizards’ 2028 second-round pick (from Wizards)
  • To Wizards:
  • To Nets:
    • Either the Wizards’ or the Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Wizards)
    • The right to swap the Warriors’ 2025 second-round pick for the Wizards’ 2025 second-round pick (from Wizards)
    • The draft rights to Nikola Milutinov (from Spurs)
  • To Spurs:
    • Chandler Hutchison (from Wizards)
    • Either the Bulls’, the Lakers’, or the Pistons 2022 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Wizards)
  • To Pacers:

The Nets also generated the most significant trade exception of any team in the deal — it’ll be worth about $11.5MM.

While it was a fairly minor move for Brooklyn, San Antonio, and Indiana, the deal will significantly reshape the Lakers’ and Wizards’ rosters for the 2021/22 season. Los Angeles consolidated its depth, acquiring a star player who wanted to team up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, then filled out its roster in free agency.

The Wizards, meanwhile, traded one star for several depth pieces and managed to replace their old point guard with one who will earn less than half of Westbrook’s salary for the next couple seasons. The deal should increase the club’s cap flexibility while fortifying its bench.

Wizards To Acquire Spencer Dinwiddie Via Sign-And-Trade

11:56pm: The Spurs are sending the draft rights to 2015 first-round pick Nikola Milutinov to the Nets in the five-team trade, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). That will satisfy the “touching” requirements we outlined below and allow the deal to be officially completed once the moratorium ends on Friday.

Katz adds (via Twitter) that the Wizards have also agreed to trade one more second-round pick (Chicago’s 2023 selection) to the Lakers. Washington is giving up five second-round selections in the deal (three to the Lakers, one to the Spurs, and one to the Nets), as well as a second-round swap (to the Nets).

Finally, Katz reports that the third year of Dinwiddie’s contract will be partially guaranteed (Twitter link).


5:04pm: The Wizards and Spencer Dinwiddie are in agreement on a three-year, $62MM deal that will land the veteran point guard in Washington, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The club will acquire Dinwiddie from the Nets via sign-and-trade.

That $62MM figure had been expected for Dinwiddie’s deal with the Wizards, since it’s the most the team could pay him by looping his sign-and-trade into the larger Russell Westbrook deal with the Lakers, notes Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Charania (Twitter link), the Nets will receive a second-round pick and a draft-pick swap from the Wizards in the sign-and-trade agreement. The move will also create an $11.5MM trade exception for Brooklyn.

Additionally, the Wizards will trade Chandler Hutchison and a second-round pick to the Spurs as part of the multi-team deal, Charania reports (via Twitter). Moving Hutchison’s $4MM+ salary will allow Washington to remain out of tax territory for now, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) provides the details on the draft assets, reporting that the Wizards are sending a 2022 second-rounder to San Antonio and a 2024 second-rounder to Brooklyn, as well as a 2025 second-round pick swap to the Nets.

The 2022 second-round pick headed to San Antonio will be the most favorable of the Lakers’, Bulls’, and Pistons’ second-rounders, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.

That 2025 swap will give Brooklyn a chance to send Golden State’s second-rounder to Washington in exchange for the Wizards’ 2025 second-rounder, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The 2024 second-rounder will be the more favorable of the Wizards’ and Grizzlies’ selections, Bontemps adds.

In total, Wojnarowski tweets, the deal will include five teams: the Wizards, Nets, Spurs, Lakers, and Pacers. The Westbrook trade agreement and the Wizards’ deal for Aaron Holiday will become part of this larger deal once it’s officially completed after the moratorium lifts on Friday.

Here’s what the full trade should look like, based on the details reported to date:

  • Wizards to acquire Dinwiddie (via sign-and-trade), Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, Holiday, and the draft rights to Isaiah Todd (No. 31 pick).
  • Lakers to acquire Westbrook, either the Wizards’ or the Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is less favorable; from Wizards), and the Wizards’ 2028 second-round pick.
  • Nets to acquire either the Wizards’ or the Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable; from Wizards) and the right to swap their the Warriors’ 2025 second-round pick for the Wizards’ 2025 second-round pick.
  • Spurs to acquire Hutchison and either the Bulls’, Lakers,’, or Pistons 2022 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Wizards).
  • Pacers to acquire the draft rights to Isaiah Jackson (No. 22 pick).

As Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report points out (via Twitter), there will likely be at least one more piece involved between the Nets and Spurs in order to satisfy the rule that every team in a multi-team trade must “touch” two other teams in the deal. As reported so far, Brooklyn and San Antonio are each only receiving assets from (or sending an asset to) the Wizards. That last piece would likely be something minor, such as cash or the draft rights to a stashed player.

In Dinwiddie, the Wizards are getting a 28-year-old point guard who is coming off a lost season. He appeared in just three games before missing the rest of the 2020/21 campaign due to a partially torn ACL. However, Dinwiddie was reportedly cleared for all basketball activities in June and the expectation is that he’ll be good to go for the fall.

In his last full season, Dinwiddie averaged 20.6 PPG and 6.8 APG on .415/.308/.778 shooting in 64 games (31.2 MPG) for Brooklyn in 2019/20.

Word broke on Monday night that the Wizards and Dinwiddie were nearing an agreement, but the club didn’t have the cap space necessary to acquire him without getting the Nets’ cooperation in a sign-and-trade. Because Brooklyn didn’t want to take on any salary but wanted an asset or two for agreeing to play ball, it took all involved parties a couple days to work out the details of the deal that would get the point guard to D.C.

Free Agency Rumors: DeRozan, Bulls, Wizards, McLaughlin, Rose, Heat

A sign-and-trade deal that sends DeMar DeRozan to the Bulls remains a possibility for the veteran free agent wing, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Chicago has previously been mentioned as a possible suitor for DeRozan, and Stein’s report suggests the team remains interested even after reaching agreements with Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso.

A Monday report from Brian Windhorst of ESPN suggested that a double sign-and-trade sending DeRozan to the Bulls and Lauri Markkanen to the Spurs could be one possibility that the two sides would explore. Chicago also expiring contracts belonging to Thaddeus Young ($14.19MM) and Al-Farouq Aminu ($10.18MM), both of which would theoretically make for good salary-matching pieces.

Here are a few more rumors related to free agency:

  • As Spencer Dinwiddie and the Wizards continue to work toward a possible agreement that would land the point guard in D.C., Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report says (via Twitter) that Washington has begun exploring the possibility of trading Chandler Hutchison and a second-round pick as part of a potential sign-and-trade deal for Dinwiddie.
  • Jordan McLaughlin and his camp are optimistic about reaching a new multiyear contract agreement with the Timberwolves, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link). McLaughlin, a restricted free agent, met face-to-face with the Wolves when free agency opened on Monday, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.
  • The Knicks are expected to re-sign Derrick Rose using his Early Bird rights, which means they can keep his smaller cap hold on their books for now and then eventually go over the cap to complete his deal, tweets Steve Popper of Newsday. Popper estimates that New York could still have upwards of $9MM in cap room to work with, or even more if the team waives Luca Vildoza‘s non-guaranteed salary.
  • The Heat had interest in Rudy Gay, but weren’t going to match Utah’s two-year, $12MM offer, preferring to commit most of their mid-level to a strong defensive player in P.J. Tucker, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.