5 NBA players waived without playing a single game for their team feat. Otto Porter and more
The NBA can be a brutal business, and that brutality is most apparent either during free agency or the trade deadline. Earlier, the league had already seen a number of players being immediately waived right after being included in the trade package before the trade deadline. Most recently, Otto Porter Jr. joined the list of players who were waived by their trading teams.
While some of the players, after being waived found a spot for themselves on a team, some still remain free agents searching for teams to land. A few players who were traded and later waived by the team did not get a chance to play with the team at all.
With that in mind, here is a list of five NBA players who were waived without playing a single game for their team.
5 NBA players waived without playing a single game for their team
1. Spencer Dinwiddie
After playing for a season with the Dallas Mavericks, Spencer Dinwiddie was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in Feb. 2023. Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith were included in the draft, along with several draft picks that brought Kyrie Irving to Dallas. Dinwiddie was given the starter role with the Nets for the 2023-24 season.
Again on Feb 2-24, Dinwiddie was traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Dennis Schroder and Thaddeus Young. He was later waived by the Raptors. Dinwiddie later signed a new contract with the LA Lakers on Feb 10.
2. Otto Porter
Otto Porter Jr. has played only 15 games this season. All his games in the 2023-24 season have come as a Toronto Raptor. He signed a two-year contract with the Raptors in July 2022. He played only eight games in the 2022-23 season before he had season-ending surgery on his left foot.
This season, in exchange for Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbajil, the Raptors sent Porter Jr., Kira Lewis Jr. and a 2024 first-round draft pick to the Utah Jazz. Later, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Porter Jr. had been waived by the Jazz. Porter did not play a single game for the Jazz.
3. Marcus Morris
Marcus Morris is one of those players who deserves a spot on an NBA team. He is a good player and a great three-point shooter. After his brief stint with the LA Clippers, Morris was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, along with Nicolas Batum, Kenyon Martin Jr. and Robert Covington, who sent James Harden to the Clippers.
He played 37 games for the 76ers this season before he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs. In those 37 games, Morris averaged 6.7 points on 43.9% shooting from the field and 40% shooting from three-point line. Later, on Feb. 29, Morris was waived by the Spurs. He did not play any games for the Spurs.
4. Thaddeus Young
Thaddeus Young has had a fairly good career in the NBA so far. Young was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2007 NBA Draft. So far he has played with eight teams, including the Chicago Bulls, Spurs and Raptors.
In Feb 2022, Young was sent to the Raptors in a trade from the Spurs. He later signed a two-year/$16 million contract extension with the Raptors. On Feb 8, 2024, Young and Schroder were traded to the Nets in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie. The Nets later waived him without playing any games for the team.
5. Cory Joseph
Cory Joseph became an NBA champion in 2014 when he was still playing with the Spurs. Since then, Joseph has moved to five teams, including Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons and Golden State Warriors.
Joseph was waived by Pistons in 2021; however, he was later re-signed by the same team in the same season. In July 2023, Joseph signed a contract with the Warriors. He played 26 games with the Warriors, averaging 2.4 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
He was traded to the Pacers on Feb 8, 2024, and the Pacers subsequently waived him. He is a free agent now, waiting to sign with a team.