Today, an era comes to an end. King Kyle’s reign is over thanks to the OKC Thunder waiving and stretching his contract. Let’s take a moment to reminisce about his time in Oklahoma City.
Kyle Singler was a promising player. He was a good three-point shooter who could also play some defense. In the three and a quarter seasons he spent with the OKC Thunder, he started a total of 22 games (18 of which were in the 2014-15 season) and played in a total of 138 games.
As the seasons went by, he got fewer appearances. He also played fewer minutes when he got the chance to play.
| Season | Tm | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | OKC | 12 | 0 | 4.9 | .333 | 0.2 | 0.4 | .400 | .313 | .381 | .538 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| 2016-17 | OKC | 32 | 2 | 12.0 | .410 | 0.2 | 1.2 | .189 | .587 | .452 | .765 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 2.8 |
| 2015-16 | OKC | 68 | 2 | 14.4 | .389 | 0.4 | 1.4 | .309 | .452 | .457 | .659 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 3.4 |
| Career | 356 | 172 | 21.9 | .418 | 0.8 | 2.3 | .362 | .458 | .493 | .786 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 6.5 | |
| 3 seasons | DET | 218 | 150 | 27.1 | .429 | 1.1 | 2.9 | .379 | .462 | .504 | .817 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 8.7 |
| 4 seasons | OKC | 138 | 22 | 13.6 | .378 | 0.4 | 1.4 | .306 | .439 | .448 | .667 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/30/2018.
Presti’s decision to re-sign Singler in the first place still baffles me. He failed to impress in the 26 games he played for the Thunder in the 2014-15 season. It only got worse from there though.
In a matter of months, he went from a solid two-way player to a man who got paid to watch the Thunder play. The shooting he was reputed for disappeared into thin air. He simply couldn’t guard anyone at all because he was too slow. That 5-year contract he signed turned into dead weight.
Thunder will save $23.4M in salary and luxury tax this year on stretching Singler’s $5M salary. https://t.co/vnAsYLyElN
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 30, 2018
Billy Donovan eventually caught up to that and simply stopped giving him minutes in crucial moments.
He did, however, give Singler the role of human victory cigar/white flag. That role is now vacant due to obvious reasons.
The apparent regression of his skills, shooting prowess, and defensive ability was more concerning though. While the Thunder were transfixed by whatever new age health trick he was using, the on-court product left much to be desired. It seemed like Singler was a shell of the player OKC thought they were getting.
The OKC Thunder’s decision to stretch him was not only thanks to his abysmal play. It was also thanks to his disgustingly bad contract. This saves the Thunder a lot of money and frees up a roster spot for a player who can actually contribute.
Having said that, I would like to close this article with a famous quote from Dr. Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”