Last week, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Houston Rockets forward and former one-year Duke basketball double-digit scorer AJ Griffin was “seriously considering stepping away from basketball.”

Charania’s report advanced another step on Friday evening, as the top insider relayed from his sources that the “Rockets are waiving AJ Griffin via contract buyout, as he is expected to step away from basketball at 21 years old after two NBA seasons.”

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Later in the evening, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon added that Griffin is “pondering whether to continue his NBA career.”

So, it now sounds as though folks shouldn’t rule out the possibility of seeing him back on the court at some point down the road.

Griffin, son of retired nine-year NBA journeyman wing and recent one-year Milwaukee Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin Sr., came off the board No. 16 overall at the 2022 NBA Draft following his one-and-done Duke basketball campaign. He averaged 7.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in 92 outings spanning two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks before getting traded to the Rockets in late June.

As a Blue Devil, the chiseled perimeter weapon averaged 10.4 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting a team-high 44.7 percent from downtown in helping to power Mike Krzyzewski’s final squad to the 2022 Final Four and a 32-7 overall record.

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