Can the OKC Thunder and GM Sam Presti find a diamond in the rough during this dead period to fill a roster spot and add value? We examine three viable options.
With NBA Free Agency seemingly over, NBA teams such as the OKC Thunder are left scraping at the bottom of the barrel to fill out the remaining spots on their rosters.
However, this is the time of year where teams can find players that can end up being key contributors on the court. Players such as Fred VanVleet, Luke Kornet, Danuel House, and Allonzo Trier have all been signed to two-way deals in the past couple of seasons and they all seem to have a place in the league.
In addition to undrafted players, around this time last season players such as Noah Vonleh, Marcus Smart and Shabazz Napier were inked to deals, with all three of them playing a major role for their respective teams last season.
Currently, OKC has filled all 15 roster spots, but they have one two-way contract spot open after waiving forward Donte Grantham (take a look at the full roster here). Look for OKC to try and trade a player such as Patrick Patterson in order to free up a roster spot and get under the tax line.
Two-way contracts are essentially a contract that allows for players to spend most of their time in the NBA G-League and only 45 days with their respective NBA teams. After the 45 days are up, you can send them back to the G-League or sign them to an official contract.
You may remember the Rockets signing a wide variety of players to two-way deals before signing Danuel House, an undrafted player in 2016 to a deal. House went on to become a valuable piece to their team in the regular season averaging a little shy of ten points per game.
With OKC wanting to stay below the tax, buying low on these two-way players and remaining free agents might be the best way to go if they want to find an impact player for a low price.
Let’s take a look at three possible players OKC might be looking to bring in.