Ex-Spurs Guard is having a viciously tough time finding a home

The trade deadline was not kind to former Spurs first-round pick Malaki Branham. First, he was traded from Washington to Dallas in the Anthony Davis deal. Then, he immediately got flipped to Charlotte in exchange for Tyus Jones. He barely had time to breathe in Buzz City before getting waived, with the Hornets opting to re-sign veteran Pat Connaughton instead of keeping him around.

Branham is now on the outside looking in as he tries to make it in the NBA. His career may be on its last legs. It’s not fully his fault, though, because the league is moving past players of his archetype.

Malaki Branham may be on his way out of the NBA

Branham’s career trajectory has been on a downward spiral for a while. He had a solid rookie campaign with San Antonio, averaging 10.2 points and 1.9 assists in 66 games played (32 starts).

Since then, though, his minutes and production have gone down each year. In 2024-25, his final season as a Spur, he logged just 9.1 minutes a night, although he was decent in that limited time, averaging 5.0 points while shooting 40.5% from three.

San Antonio parted ways with their 2022 first-round pick last summer, packaging him and Blake Wesley (his draft classmate) together to acquire Kelly Olynyk from the Wizards. He played 28 games for Washington but was largely on the fringe of the rotation. He had some nice moments in the nation’s capital, including four double-digit scoring games, but it obviously wasn’t enough to secure his spot on the team.

The league has passed Branham by

Now, as a free agent, Branham’s future looks murky. He’s only 22 years old, so his story is far from over, but the odds feel stacked against him. Teams around the league are putting less and less stock in players like Branham, combo guards who score but don’t do much else. Guys like that come a dime a dozen, and they’re losing their value in a sport built on versatility. 

Cam Thomas is a prime example of this, although kind of an extreme one too. He’s an all-world bucket-getter, but he had no market in 2025 free agency and just got waived by the Nets because his ability to contribute to a winning environment is questionable (to say the least).

Lonnie Walker, another former Spur, also represents the decline of the score-first combo guard. He averaged 10.0 points across his seven-year career, but he fell out of the league before he even hit his prime.

Branham is a talented ballplayer. He’s effective in the mid-range, and he’s progressively improved his three-ball over time. Unfortunately, what he’s selling isn’t in high demand anymore in the NBA economy.