Players who play well deserve roster spots, and Washington Wizards guard Jared Butler is no exception. Washington brought back the 24-year-old on Monday, just two days after waiving him.

The Wizards signed Butler to a two-way deal, via HoopsHype's Michael Scotto.

As a result, Washington waived rookie guard RayJ Dennis, via the NBA's transaction page.

The Wizards had just signed Dennis to a two-way contract on Saturday, most likely as insurance in case Butler got picked up by another team. However, the team wanted Butler the whole time, via Spotrac's Keith Smith.

“This worked out for Washington. They get to keep a player they wanted and didn't have to eat any salary or move draft picks to trade salary away,” Smith said.

Waiving Butler gave the front office cap flexibility, via Smith.

“The Wizards canvassed the league looking for a home for Patrick Baldwin Jr or Johnny Davis. The Wizards weren't willing to give up a draft pick to entice a team to take on either player,” Smith reported on Saturday. “Thus, Washington waived Jared Butler to avoid taking on further dead salary on their books.”

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Washington now rolls into the regular season with Butler, Tristan Vukcevic, and Justin Champagnie as their three two-way players. These are players that don't add who to the regular season roster and typically bounce between the NBA and NBA G-League throughout the year.

Butler averaged 6.3 points on 48.8% shooting from the field in 40 games with the Wizards last season. The Baylor alum also had 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting with five assists, one steal, and one block across 23 minutes in Washington's preseason finale against the New York Knicks on Friday, which followed up a 10-point, 5-for-8 shooting effort against the Brooklyn Nets.

Retaining Jared Butler makes sense for Wizards

Washington Wizards guard Jared Butler (4) brings the ball up the court during the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks at Capital One Arena.
© Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

While Dennis, who was 2023's MAC Player of the Year, is a promising player in his own right, Butler is only one year older and has much more professional experience. The 2021 second-round pick has 88 NBA games under his belt across his stints with the Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Utah Jazz.

With Washington's backcourt still a work in progress, it makes sense for the front office to experiment with different options until the long-term depth chart is set in stone.