Former Suns F Ish Wainright waived by Trail Blazers

Days after playing in Phoenix for the first time since being waived by the Suns, the Portland Trail Blazers waived forward Ish Wainright, the team announced Saturday.

Wainright played 105 games over two seasons for the Suns from 2021-23, tallying more than 350 points and nearly 200 rebounds as a depth piece for the Suns. He started as a two-way player and earned a standard roster spot over time.

He totaled just over 16 minutes over five games across the Blazers’ first 30 games as he dealt with minor injuries and sat behind players that Blazers general manager Joe Cronin was more invested in developing.

He then averaged just under 15 minutes per game over his final two games as a Blazer, Monday against the Suns and Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks, both of which were blowout losses for Portland.

He shot 5-for-9 from three in the final two games after going just 1-for-7 in the earlier five games. He also posted a season high five rebounds along with his season high nine points in the loss to Dallas.

Although the Suns know firsthand how valuable Wainright can be to a locker room, their roster is currently full with 15 standard players and three two-way players, so they would need to cut a player in order to add the waived Wainright if interested.

“Phoenix is home,” Wainright told Arizona Sports when making his return Monday. “I’m not gonna be like, ‘Oh, this is not home.’ No. Phoenix is home. My mom loves it here, my lady lives here, my family’s here too. I will be looking for a house eventually.”