Rockets wing AJ Griffin is “seriously considering” leaving basketball, sources tell Shams Charania and Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to Charania and Iko, both Griffin and the Rockets are “preparing for his departure from the game.”
The 16th overall pick of the 2022 draft, Griffin had a promising rookie season in which he averaged 8.9 points per game with a .465/.390/.894 shooting line in 72 contests (19.5 MPG).
However, he missed time due to leg and ankle issues and personal reasons in 2023/24 and didn’t play much when he was available, averaging just 8.6 minutes per contest in 20 appearances. The former Duke Blue Devil’s scoring numbers cratered to 2.4 PPG on 29.0% shooting (.256 3PT%).
After spending his first two seasons with the Hawks, Griffin was traded to Houston in June in a three-team deal that saw Atlanta acquire the No. 43 pick (Nikola Djurisic). The Rockets had reportedly long been interested in the 21-year-old, and in July he expressed excitement about having a fresh start with Houston. But it appears his time with the team could be very brief.
Griffin is on Houston’s books for a guaranteed $3.89MM salary for ’24/25 and the Rockets will have until the end of October to decide whether or not they want to exercise his $5.97MM team option for the ’25/26 season. Based on today’s report, it certainly sounds like that option will be declined.
Griffin is the son of former NBA player and longtime assistant coach Adrian Griffin, who was head coach of the Bucks for part of last season.
