Wizards Make Tough Decision To Waive Jared Butler

The Washington Wizards have made a tough decision to waive guard Jared Butler.

Oct 14, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Washington Wizards shooting guard Jared Butler (4) dribbles the ball against Brooklyn Nets point guard Ben Simmons (10) during the second half at Barclays Center. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

The Washington Wizards were hopeful to find a way to keep promising young guard Jared Butler on the roster for the 2024-25 NBA season. Reports earlier today came out that they were looking to find a trade for a guaranteed salary in order to keep Butler.

Unfortunately, a deal did not materialize, and the Wizards had to make a tough decision.

According to a report from Josh Robbins of The Athletic, Washington was released Butler. Their roster count now sits at the mandatory 15.

The Wizards have waived guard Jared Butler, a move that cuts their conventional (non-two-way) roster down to 15 players.

— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) October 19, 2024

Butler showed major signs of promise last season with the Wizards. He ended up playing in 40 games, averaging 14.2 minutes per contest. In those appearances, he averaged 6.3 points, 3.2 assists, and 1.5 rebounds per game. Butler shot 48.8 percent from the floor.

There had been speculation that Washington was open to moving Johnny Davis in order to keep Butler. Obviously, they either couldn't find a trade partner or that chatter wasn't accurate.

Robbins also broke down more about the decision to release Butler in a follow-up post on X.

There's no question that Jared Butler's performance merited making the regular-season roster. But his salary for the 2024-25 season is non-guaranteed -- the only non-guaranteed salary that remained on the Wizards' roster. Waiving him is about preserving some cap flexibility for… https://t.co/l0b20CxKF2

— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) October 19, 2024

Preserving cap space flexibility was an absolute must for the Wizards. They are expected to be very active in trade discussions throughout the course of the year.

Names like Malcolm Brogdon, Jonas Valanciunas, and Kyle Kuzma could all be moved before the deadline. Washington may not end up making trades, but they need to be able to faciliate moves if they come up.

At 24 years old, Butler has a very bright future ahead of himself. He has shown enough that either another team will swoop in and sign him or the Wizards could try to bring him back at some point.

Either way, this is a very disappointing end to his current situation for Butler. As Robbins noted, he played well enough to make the roster, but unfortunately business decisions had to be made.

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