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Houston Rockets forward AJ Griffin is strongly considering stepping away from basketball, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported on Thursday.
Griffin, a former first-round pick in 2022, was traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Rockets this offseason. Now, Charania says the sides are "preparing for his departure from the game."
Griffin was selected with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft out of Duke University. In his one season with the Blue Devils, Griffin averaged 10.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game while shooting 49.3 percent from the field, 44.7 percent from deep, and 79.2 percent from the free throw line. He earned ACC All-Freshman honors in his one and only season at Duke.
Griffin's upside led to him being selected just outside the lottery in 2022, and he instantly played a role in Atlanta during his rookie season. Griffin appeared in 72 games during the 2022-23 season, averaging 8.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.0 assists across 19.5 minutes per game. He knocked down 46.5 percent of his field goals, 39 percent of his 3-pointers, and 89.4 percent of his free throws.
In the 2023-24 season, Griffin hit a bit of a speed bump. Highlighted by injuries and poor play, Griffin appeared in just 20 games at the NBA level. In 8.6 minutes per contest, Griffin averaged just 2.4 points per game. His shooting splits dropped to 29 percent from the field and 25.6 percent from deep.
Rather than spending another season trying to work his way back in Atlanta, the Hawks elected to ship Griffin to Houston ahead of the second round of this year's NBA Draft. The Rockets sent the No. 44 overall pick in the second round of the draft for the former first-round pick.
Read more: Hawks Trade AJ Griffin to Rockets Ahead of NBA Draft Round 2
In Houston, Griffin was expected to compete for everyday minutes as a role player on a very talented and deep roster. However, that may not be the case any longer.
As of this writing, no reason has been given for why Griffin is potentially deciding to walk away from basketball. If Griffin is retiring from basketball, he finishes his career averaging 7.5 points across 92 games.
Griffin is the son of former NBA veteran Adrian Griffin, who spent nine seasons in the league as a player and was most recently the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks for 43 games last season before being fired and replaced by Doc Rivers. Griffin was an assistant coach from 2008-23.
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About the writer
Noah Camras is a Newsweek contributor based in Los Angeles. His focus is on sports content. Noah has been with Newsweek since March ... Read more