The Hornets have waived Josh Okogie, Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer reports. Okogie’s $7.7MM salary for next season would have been guaranteed if he had remained on the roster beyond Tuesday.
Charlotte had looked to trade the wing but couldn’t find a partner, Boone writes. The two sides agreed to push back Okogie’s guarantee date beyond the original June 30 deadline to give the front office more time to seek a trade involving the 27-year-old wing.
Okogie appeared in a total of 40 games last season (15.6 minutes per contest), averaging 7.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals on .448/.348/.741 shooting. Okogie was acquired by the Hornets, along with three second-round picks, from Phoenix for Nick Richards in January. He appeared in 16 games (six starts) with Charlotte, averaging 8.9 PPG and 2.7 RPG.
Charlotte has to make several more moves to ease its roster crunch. The Hornets will still have 18 players on standard contracts and all three of their two-way spots are filled once Drew Peterson‘s two-way deal is official.
DaQuan Jeffries, who also doesn’t have a guaranteed contract, and Nick Smith Jr. are among the players who could lose their spots if the Hornets don’t make more trades.