When Ryan Rollins was waived by the Washington Wizards in early January last year, the NBA career of the former Golden State Warriors guard well and truly hung in the balance.
Rollins was a speculative pick as is, with the Warriors having bought the 44th pick off the Atlanta Hawks to secure the 6'3" guard in the second-round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
His stay in Golden State was a brief one, playing just 12 games and 62 total minutes with the franchise in his rookie year before going down with a season-ending right foot injury. Rollins was subsequently traded to the Wizards on draft day of 2023, having been involved in the franchise-altering Jordan Poole-Chris Paul trade.
Ryan Rollins has signed a standard contract with the Milwaukee Bucks
Rollins' tenure in Washington was even briefer than with the Warriors, totalling just 10 games before his departure which was also impacted by theft charges. Nearly two months later and Rollins landed with the Milwaukee Bucks, signing a two-year, two-way contract with the Eastern Conference powerhouse.
Fast-forward to now and Rollins has completed quite the career revival...at least for now. ESPN's Shams Charania reports on Monday that the 22-year-old will sign a standard contract with the Bucks for the remainder of the season, making him eligible for playoff action as the franchise currently sits fourth in the East standings.
The Milwaukee Bucks are converting two-way guard Ryan Rollins to a standard NBA contract for the rest of the season, agents Mike Silverman and Brandon Grier of Equity Basketball told ESPN. Rollins, 22, has averaged 10.4 points and 39% shooting on 3s in 8 starts this season. pic.twitter.com/tuEPh7sBNu
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 3, 2025
Rollins has been a notable contributor for Doc Rivers this season, having played well over double the amount of games than he did in his first two NBA seasons combined. In 39 games Rollins has made eight starts, is averaging 4.9 rebounds, 1.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists, and is shooting 45.1% from the floor and 34.8% from 3-point range.
His career-high came a month ago against the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, with Rollins going for 16 points and two steals on 5-of-9 shooting (2-of-3 from 3-point range) in just over 18 minutes. He played just over 10 minutes and had two points shortly after against Golden State on February 10 at Fiserv Forum, with the two teams to meet again at Chase Center on March 18.
Rollins isn't putting up huge numbers that would have the Warriors fully regret trading him, and there's no guarantee he'd be even part of Steve Kerr's rotation right now were he still with the franchise. However, this guaranteed contract is still a nice recognition for how he's turned his career around over the past 12 months.