Suns Signing Saben Lee, Waiving Duane Washington Jr.

The Suns intend to sign guard Saben Lee to a two-way contract and waive guard Duane Washington Jr., according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Lee, 23, recently spent time on to two-way contracts with the Suns, though the second expired on Jan. 31. He was initially signed 20 days before that.

He became a somewhat regular part of the rotation in that span, appearing in 12 games and averaging 6.3 points and shooting 48 percent from the field, including 46 percent on 3-pointers.

Washington, 22, signed a two-way deal with the Suns in August and had some nice moments when he received an uptick in playing time, largely in part because of injuries to pint guard Chris Paul and shooting guard Devin Booker.

In 31 appearances this season, Washington averaged 7.9 points on 37 percent from the field. He spent last season as rookie with the Pacers, averaging 9.9 points in 48 games.

Lee was originally drafted by the Pistons with the No. 38 overall selection in 2020, making him GM Troy Weaver‘s first pick in Detroit. Lee appeared in 48 games as a rookie, and then 37 games last year, both with the Pistons, averaging 5.6 points each season.

He was then a part of the Pistons-Jazz deal that sent wing Bojan Bogdanovic to Detroit in late September. Lee was viewed as being included for salary-matching purposes and was waived shortly after the deal.