OKC Thunder waive trio of players including K.J. McDaniels
By Rylan Stiles
As the OKC Thunder inch closer to season start management made a trio of roster cuts including Bryce Alford, Richard Solomon and journey man K.J. McDaniels.
When K.J. McDaniels was acquired by the OKC Blue that allowed him a training camp invite for the varsity squad. At the OKC Thunder training camp, McDaniels seemingly performed well although those practice reports did not translate into many minutes with OKC this preseason.
Specifically, McDaniels logged 8.2 minutes, 3.5 points, and 3 rebounds per game this month. McDaniels got into two of the Thunder’s four preseason tilts. For McDaniels it is still uncertain if he will accept his OKC Blue assignment, and many would not blame him if he does not.
While an NBA opportunity doesn’t appear to be forthcoming, he may not want to return to the G-League, and therefore may elect to play ball overseas instead. The Blue have already lost a pair of would-be key contributors to leagues overseas when RaShawn Thomas and Devon Hall chose to play in Italy and Australia respectively.
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Bryce Alford also got waived today by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 6’3 guard from UCLA had no place with the varsity squad. Despite that, Alford saw action in three preseason contests averaging 3 heaminutes, and 3 points per game.
As long as he clears waivers all signs point to him returning to the OKC Blue. Last year, as a member of the Blue, Alford averaged 15 points per game. Additionally, he shot 41 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point land. Alford hauled down a pair of rebounds and averaged two assists per game.
As a 23 year old, Alford still has room to grow, and he will play a huge factor for the Blue this season.
The Thunder also waived Richard Solomon. Solomon is a 26 year old center out of the University of California. Solomon did not see the floor this preseason.
Abdul Gaddy was not one of the roster fatalities today. Gaddy is currently on a non-guaranteed deal. With the cuts the OKC Thunder have trimmed their roster to 15 players plus the two 2-way contracts which represents a full roster complement. This could be the final roster the Thunder head to Oakland with for opening night October 16. However, both Sam Presti and Billy Donovan have expressed interest in wanting to keep that last roster spot open, which is currently being occupied by Gaddy.
Next. Offseason report card – Grading every Sam Presti move. dark
Maybe Gaddy will face roster judgment the day prior to Tuesday night, and in all likelihood he will get cut, but that is something to monitor. For roster updates on both the OKC Thunder and the OKC Blue follow TI and myself on twitter!