Inside The Rockets

Rockets Ex Usman Garuba Cut by Thunder; NBA Career Over?

Usman Garuba, a 2021 first-round pick, played his first two NBA seasons with the Houston Rockets.

Jeremy Brener

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A former member of the Houston Rockets is looking for a new home.

According to the team, the Oklahoma City Thunder has waived former Rockets forward Usman Garuba.

Garuba, the No. 23 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, was drafted by the Rockets and played his first two seasons in the league with Houston. This summer, he was traded alongside point guard TyTy Washington to the Atlanta Hawks. Just days later, the pair was traded to OKC.

Washington was cut over the weekend after the team tried to trim down the roster ahead of training camp, and now Garuba became the next domino to fall.

Despite missing nearly all of his rookie campaign and summer league in 2022, Garuba said he used the time spent on the sidelines to learn the game from afar ahead of his second season.

Garuba spent the 2022-23 season as a rotational player backing up Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. in 75 games. He averaged 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 points.

Now that he's been cut by the Thunder, Garuba has about a month left before training camp begins and he could sign with another team. However, given his European roots, there's a chance he may return overseas.

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Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.

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