Former Indiana Pacers guard Duane Washington Jr. gets nice payday in New York Knicks trade for Karl-Anthony Towns

The New York Knicks acquired Karl-Anthony Towns in a blockbuster trade on Wednesday. It was one of the biggest and most surprising moves of the offseason — the Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves deal shifted the balance of power in both conferences.

Both teams are above the first salary cap apron, so the trade had to expand beyond the general parameters. Julius Randle, Keita Bates-Diop, and Donte DiVincenzo went to the Wolves, but there needed to be a third team involved so the Knicks could send out more salary.

Insert the Charlotte Hornets, and insert a connection to the Indiana Pacers. In order to make the trade legal, the Knicks sent three players to Charlotte — Charlie Brown, DaQuan Jeffries, and Duane Washington Jr. were dealt from New York to the Hornets. Wasington Jr. played for the Pacers as a rookie.

All three players were traded into the Hornets Room Exception via a sign-and-trade, and players who are moved in that way have to sign a three-year contract. The first year of the agreement has to be guaranteed. Additionally, players on minimum salary deals can no longer be aggregated as salary in deals under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, so all three players sent to the Hornets received more than their minimum salary.

According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, each player got $1 more than their minimum salary to make the trade legal. For Washington Jr., that means his NBA salary for the coming season is $2,162,607. He may be waived by Charlotte and could end up back where he was before in Europe with Partizan. Reports from multiple people suggested that Washington Jr.’s NBA release clause was a holdup in the trade, and Partizan announced his release today.

Washington Jr. spent his rookie season with the Pacers, where he played in 48 games. He averaged 9.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and spent almost the entire season on a two-way deal. He then was on a similar agreement with the Phoenix Suns and Knicks. Over half of his NBA appearances have come with Indiana to this day.

Today, he got a big payday to help facilitate a trade. He’s averaged 9.1 points per game in his career.