Trail Blazers Waive Greg Brown III

The Portland Trail Blazers are waiving forward Greg Brown III following the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline. The Blazers were forced to waive a current player as a result of a Trade Deadline Eve exchange with the New York Knicks, which brought them Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono, and Svi Mykhailiuk in exchange for forward Josh Hart.

League rules mandate that in order to execute an imbalanced multi-player trade, a team must be able to absorb all incoming players on its roster. This is true whether or not the team intends to keep, waive, or subsequently trade those incoming players.

Portland had 14 players on their roster prior to the deadline. The 3-for-1 deal with New York would have left them at 16, one over the limit. Mykhailiuk was subsequently moved and the fate of Arcidiacono is unknown, but neither could come into Portland’s possession in the first place unless they pared their roster down to 13 to accommodate the exchange, which waiving Brown III accomplishes.

Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report tweeted the news.

Portland Trail Blazers are waiving forward Greg Brown III, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.

The 21-year-old forward has spent two seasons in Portland after being acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans the day after the 2021 NBA Draft, where he was selected 43rd overall. The Blazers traded New Orleans two second-round picks for the rights to Brown III.

Over 64 total appearances in two seasons, Brown III has averaged 4.0 points and 2,4 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game, shooting 42.2% from the field, 29.4% from the three-point arc. His minutes dropped from 13.3 per game in his rookie season to 5.8 this year, and he played in only 16 games total. Brown III was not able to crack Portland’s deeper roster as a sophomore, despite being known for high-flying aerobatics and energy.

Brown also spent time with the Ontario Clippers of the G-League this season.