NBA
Orlando Magic Waived 22 Year Old RJ Hampton, Detroit Acted Quickly And Are Set To Sign The Former First-Round Pick
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated22 Feb 2023
RJ Hampton did not take the traditional route that most high school players take to get to the NBA. He went and played overseas for one season before he was selected 24th overall in the 2020 NBA draft. In three seasons as a pro he’s played in 141 career games and was just not fitting in with the Magic this season. That is why he was recently waived by Orlando, but the Detroit Pistons acted fast and are set to sign Hampton.
When he was originally traded to the Magic his game flourished, but he did not have a great season last year and that’s translated into the 2022-23 season as well. Hampton was playing a career-low (13.9) minutes per game and had fallen out of the rotation for Orlando.
The Pistons can’t get any worse and decided they’ll take a chance on the former first-round pick. Detroit are currently the worst team in the Eastern Conference and have a 15-44 record. NBA betting sites have the Pistons at (+150000) to win the Finals this season.
After clearing waivers, guard R.J. Hampton plans to sign with the Detroit Pistons, sources tell ESPN. Hampton, the 24th overall pick in 2020, averaged 5.7 points in 13.9 minutes for the Magic this season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 21, 2023
RJ Hampton is taking his talents to the city of Detroit
The last time Hampton played in a game was on 1/4 and has had seven DNP’s since that time. He simply fell out of the rotation at guard and it was time for both sides to move on. In 24 games played for the Magic this season he averaged (5.7) points, (1.5) rebounds, and (1.3) assists per game.
Hampton is not going to be a starter in Detroit, but he can hope to play a solid role off the bench. Detroit only has 23 games left on the season and would need more than a miracle at this point to make the playoffs. He can try to get himself acclimated in the final 23 games and hopefully find an expanded role with Detroit or another franchise.
It will be hard for Hampton to find playing time next year with the Pistons when Cade Cunningham is back.
