After three seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, former Ohio State guard Malaki Branham was traded to the Washington Wizards.
He was traded along with Blake Wesley, a first-round pick in 2022, and a second-round pick in the 2026 draft for Kelly Olynyk.
Branham came into the league as a rookie for the 2022-23 season and averaged 10.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 66 games, but that production has fallen off over the past two years. Last season with the Spurs, Branham scored 5.0 points per game and added 1.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per contest.
Now he will team up with veteran guard CJ McCollum with the Wizards, who went 18-64 last season and finished in last place in the Eastern Conference. Branham played just over nine minutes per game last season, so he could get more opportunity to get back to his rookie production with Washington.
Branham played just one season with Ohio State in 2021-22, averaging 13.7 points,3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 32 games which earned him Big Ten All-Freshman and All-Big Ten honors while being named the Freshman of the Year in the conference. He was drafted by the Spurs with the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft.
