Suns agree to deal with former Pacers guard Duane Washington Jr.; Wainright returns

Free agent guard Duane Washington Jr., has agreed to a two-way contract with the Phoenix Suns.

ESPN's NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the deal on Twitter late Tuesday, saying  Washington's agent confirmed the agreement to ESPN. The Suns on Wednesday confirmed the acquisition in a series of posts on the team's Twitter account.

Washington, 22, was an undrafted rookie out of Ohio State in 2021. He initially was signed to a two-way contract by Indiana last year, spending time in the G League before joining Indiana. His deal later was converted to a standard contract. Two-way contracts allow NBA teams to carry two extra players in addition to the 15 on their regular season roster.

He appeared in 48 games for the Pacers last season, averaging 9.9 points per game, along with 1.8 assists and 1.7 rebounds, averaging 20 minutes a game at both point and shooting-guard spots.

Washington set a Pacers' rookie record by making seven three pointers in a game in a January loss to the Pelicans. He scored in double figures 26 times, scoring at least 20 points in four games. He shot 37 percent from 3-point range.

The 6-foot, 3-inch Washington was waived by the Pacers on July 14, the same day reports came out that Indiana had offered Suns' big Deandre Ayton a 4-year, $133 million max contract. The Washington move was seen as a way to clear salary cap space for the Ayton offer.

Ayton was a restricted free agent, which meant Phoenix could match that offer and retain Ayton, which they quickly did.

By matching the offer, the Suns can't trade Ayton to Indiana. He also can't be traded to any other team before Jan. 15. Ayton has veto power on a trade to the remaining 28 teams for a year.

The Suns and Ayton were unable to agree to a max rookie extension before the 2021-22 season, which resulted in him becoming a restricted free agent.

Wainright returns

Free agent Ish Wainright has agreed to a two-way contract ot return to the Suns, according to a report from The Athletic's Shams Charania, who said on Twitter the deal was confirmed by Wainright's agents.

Wainright appeared in 45 games for Phoenix last season, averaging 8 minutes and  2.4 points per game in a reserve role.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Report: Suns agree to two-way contract with former Pacers guard Duane Washington Jr.