Rockets assigning TyTy Washington to Vipers is best for everyone

The Houston Rockets, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, are sending TyTy Washington to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers so that he can get meaningful playing time to start the season.

Washington was the Rockets’ 29th pick in last year's draft and has not played so far this regular season as he recovers from an injury he sustained before the start of the season. Washington seemed happy as he discussed the move with Feigen, as he is finally ready to get back on the court.

“I’m excited,” Washington said. “I can’t wait. I can play and get my feet under me, go down there, have fun. This is the game I love. I can go down there and handle my business. And when I get back up here, get my moment and do what I’ll do down there and help win games.”

The Vipers are coming off their fourth championship in franchise history and started their season earlier this week as they fell to the Mexico City Captitanes on Sunday. However, with an almost entirely new team after several of their key contributors have made the jump to the NBA, Washington should be able to move right into the starting lineup sooner rather than later.

Several current Rockets have taken a similar route by playing significant minutes for the Vipers before eventually returning to the Rockets. Kevin Porter Jr., KJ Martin, Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher.

New head coach Kevin Burleson stated the Vipers would mirror the Rockets play style, so it should be a seamless transition for Washington and beneficial for the Vipers. With the Rockets, he would struggle to get time, but on the Vipers, he should get starters minutes.

The Vipers were the number-one scoring team in the G League last year by a wide margin. Even though Coach Abdelfattah has moved to the Rockets bench this season, the Vipers will still play an uptempo and aggressive style of play this season. That will also benefit Washington, who seems to thrive in the open court. It will also help the Vipers, as it did last year, with Daishen Nix in a similar situation as Washington running the point guard position for most of last season.

The Vipers play their home opener tomorrow vs. the Squadron at 7:30 CT at Bert Ogden arena as they receive their championship rings and reveal their fourth championship banner.