OKC Thunder trim roster to 14 players – waive Semaj Christon and Isaiah Canaan

Semaj Christon and Isaiah Canaan have been waived by the OKC Thunder bringing the roster to 14 guaranteed spots.

The ongoing roller coaster relationship between Semaj Christon and the OKC Thunder has come to an end.  With just five days until the team tips off the regular season they have parted ways with the point guard.

Backwards James (as my cohort Tony Heim often called him) has seemingly had a horse shoe up his sleeve during his tenure with the Thunder. Every time it seemed like he was headed out the door something would happen to keep him in the mix.  Last season, he performed better than cohort Ronnie Price and took the third point guard spot. Then Cameron Payne suffered an injury pushing Christon into the backup role.  It just seemed Christon was destined to stick with the OKC Thunder.

The OKC Thunder had to make a decision on Christon prior to tomorrow or his $1.3 million salary would have become guaranteed.

Christon leaves OKC with arguably unfilled promise, but he’ll always be the answer to a trivia question.  Christon was the player who helped Russell Westbrook notch his 10th assist and break Oscar Robertson’s triple-double record.  Though Semaj departs the varsity roster he still could turn up playing on the G-League Blues. ‘

Isaiah Canaan also cut:

Canaan was brought into training camp and preseason with a shot of getting the third point guard spot. Still, his inability to defend or create much offense didn’t bode well for him to keep a position with the OKC Thunder.

Factor in Daniel Hamilton was inked as one of the OKC Thunder two allowable 2-way G-League contracts. This means should Raymond Felton get hurt or perish the thought Westbrook, OKC can utilize Hamilton. The two way contract allows Hamilton to shuttle back and forth between the varsity team and G-League Blues. OKC can utilize Hamilton in up to 46 games on the varsity squad.

Writing was on the wall:

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Looking back when the OKC Thunder tried to ink Trey Burke to a deal in free agency that should’ve been a hint of this inevitability. Although the Thunder would like a stronger candidate as their third point guard option there is another bigger need on the squad.

With the two point guards leaving this brings the roster to 14 dedicated spots. The main issue is for Sam Presti to find more legitimate experience to add to the front court specifically at center. Dakari Johnson is the only backup to Steven Adams, so the team would likely be seeking a veteran big to add depth.

Moving forward it’s likely Presti will be seeking to fill that 15th roster spot with a veteran still seeking a home. The elephant in the room is whether Presti will also waive Kyle Singler and use the stretch provision to free up even more space. Conversely, could Presti pull another rabbit out of his hat to find a trade partner for the seldom used Singler and land a vet big?

As Lawrence George pointed out there are a few logical trading partners. One being the Pelicans who the Thunder played in preseason. Their mish-mash of wings and forwards don’t fit well and they might be open to trading Singler for Alexi Ajinca. Check out George’s article for three trade options the Thunder could target.