{"id":185401,"date":"2026-04-02T18:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=185401"},"modified":"2026-04-02T21:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:30:15","slug":"will-much-maligned-2022-nba-top-5-draft-pick-be-coveted-this-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/02\/will-much-maligned-2022-nba-top-5-draft-pick-be-coveted-this-offseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Much-Maligned 2022 NBA Top-5 Draft Pick Be Coveted This Offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jaden Ivey <\/a>has fallen fast. So fast that the 2022 No. 4 NBA draft pick is currently out of the league.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Bulls<\/a> waived Ivey on March 30 for conduct detrimental to the team. According to several reports, Ivey made \u201cinflammatory comments\u201d<\/a> on Instagram Live over the last week, including bout the NBA\u2019s<\/a> advocacy for the LGBTQ community on Monday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“The Chicago Bulls are waiving guard Jaden Ivey after his recent anti-LGBTQ comments amid several rants on religion and other topics, sources tell ESPN,” Shams Charania tweeted on Monday<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Will Much-Maligned 2022 NBA Top-5 Draft Pick Be Coveted This Offseason<\/h2>\n

Ivey has been hampered by injuries the last two years. But the 6-3 combo guard played well for Chicago in the four games that he appeared in since being acquired at the NBA trade deadline from Detroit<\/a>. He hadn’t been since February 11 due to a lingering knee ailment and was officially ruled out for the season a few days before being released.<\/p>\n

Ivey has appeared in just 67 games over the last two seasons. In 37 games this season, mainly coming off the bench, Ivey averaged 8.5 points, along with 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He also made 1.4 threes and had 16 double-figure scoring efforts while compiling shooting splits of 44.5\/37.3\/80.9. Additionally, he produced 10 points, three rebounds, and three assists in each of his four appearances with the Bulls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how it\u2019s been extremely difficult for him as far as the way he was playing, the injuries, trying to make the comeback,k and trying to overcome that. I don\u2019t think we can overlook the human aspect of these things and how that impacts people and their decisions,\u201d Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff<\/a> said\u00a0 (via Detroit Free Press Omari Sankofa<\/a>). \u201cHaving said that, the NBA is one of the most inclusive environments in pro sports, and it\u2019s a genuine thing that celebrates different ethnicities, heritages, sexual preferences, and whatever else. The NBA brings people together. \u2026 This environment should be an environment that supports that and gives people the opportunity to be the best version of themselves, no matter who that is or what they believe, or what choices they may make that don\u2019t impact or infringe on other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Jaden Ivey Has A Lot Of Work To Do, IF He Is Going To Play In The NBA Again<\/h3>\n

Ivey is definitely a gifted basketball player, but he has a lot of work to do to repair his image. According to Joe Crowley of The Chicago Sun-Times,<\/a> Ivey was known as a “preacher” in Detroit, but added that Ivey\u2019s interviews with the media \u201cbecame sermons,\u201d and that he asked team reporters if they\u2019ve been \u201csaved\u201d and whether they\u2019ve \u201cfornicated before marriage.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“I think there\u2019s a certain level of standards and expectations that are here,\u201d Bulls coach Billy Donovan<\/a>\u00a0said about Ivey<\/a>. \u201cI mean, we have people from all different walks of life working in the building and players from all different walks of life, right? So, the first thing is, everybody comes with their own personal experiences. But one thing is, we\u2019ve got to all be professional. I think there\u2019s got to be a high level of respect for one another, and we’ve got to help each other and then be accountable to those standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crowley added that none of the Bulls “shed a tear” following his termination. Ivey, who made $10.1 million this season, was headed for restricted free agency before getting released by the Bulls. He will now be an unrestricted free agent.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThose who are around me, those who are my family members, betraying me because of what I spoke,\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Ivey said on Tuesday as he revealed his wife<\/a> (Caitllyn Newton) won’t talk to him. <\/span>\u201cThe truth. Betraying me. Saying that I\u2019m losing my mind. Saying that I\u2019m crazy. Saying that I don\u2019t know the truth. These are my own family members who love me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

What Would Jaden Ivey Bring To A Team<\/h4>\n

Newton, a former Purdue volleyball player, disputed Ivey’s assertion that she abandoned him earlier today.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>We<\/em> were communicating all morning of that day, \u00a0Ivey\u2019s wife wrote in her latest Instagram story.<\/span> “People say things for attention, do not be deceived.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If Ivey does repair his image, he should have suitors. NBA teams are always looking for talented guards. But his return to the league will likely require a full rebuild of trust and image, along with a willingness to be coached and to fit into a system.<\/p>\n

However, an anonymous NBA Executive is not sure that he will have an NBA opportunity come this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t sign him…”\u00a0 an anonymous NBA executive told Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix<\/a>. If he wants to play basketball, he will likely have to go overseas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For his career, Ivey averages 14.8 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.5 rebounds with shooting splits of 43\/35.5\/74.9. Moreover, Ivey is extremely athletic and capable of putting pressure on the rim, as he excels at getting downhill. He is an NBA-caliber starter who thrives in space.<\/p>\n

While Ivey could certainly end up back in the NBA this year, don’t expect him to start the season with a team. Ivey is expected to play overseas if he wants to play this year. However, he may remain with the team and sign with a G-League franchise.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jaden Ivey has fallen fast. So fast that the 2022 No. 4 NBA draft pick is currently out of the league. The Chicago Bulls waived Ivey on March 30 for conduct detrimental to the team. According to several reports, Ivey made \u201cinflammatory comments\u201d on Instagram Live over the last week, including bout the NBA\u2019s advocacy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":185693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,8,10,62,3],"tags":[545,4107,49128,297],"class_list":["post-185401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-bulls","category-pistons","category-nba","category-news","tag-billy-donovan","tag-jaden-ivey","tag-jb-bickerstaff","tag-nba-free-agency"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185401"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185730,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185401\/revisions\/185730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}