OKC Thunder sign Devaughn Akoon Purcell, add Eric Maynor to OKC Blue staff
The OKC Thunder signs Devaughn Akoon Purcell to the training camp roster and adds Eric Maynor as an assistant to the OKC Blue coaching staff.
One more sleep until the OKC Thunder media day arrives and just a few days until training camp begins. To that end, the franchise who signed Markel Brown and then three days later released him have added Devaughn Akoon Purcell to one of the open spots on the training camp roster.
Purcell is a 26-year old hailing from Orlando Florida but split his college ball between Eastern Oklahoma State as well as Illinois State University.
The small forward went undrafted but spent time in the National Basketball League with the Indiana Pacers in Summer League.
His main efforts came when he played seven games with the Denver Nuggets varsity squad as well as two games with the 76ers G-League affiliate the Delaware Blue Coats last season.
Although he only hit the court in garbage time with the Nuggets varsity squad his two games with the Blue Coats offered some positive production. He averaged 24.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.0 steals. His efficiency was good across all three areas shooting 43.8 percent from the field, 58.3 percent from the perimeter and 82.4 percent from the charity stripe. Granted, the small sample size isn’t a harbinger for his overall abilities, however, it offers room for optimism.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to a partially guaranteed deal with free agent DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, league source tells @HoopsRumors.
— JD Shaw (@JShawNBA) September 28, 2019
With the team already bringing a ton of wings to camp it’s like Purcell is on hand to help push the youngsters and potentially to be added to the OKC Blue this season.
Thunderous Intentions outlined the training camp roster in our article:
Related Story. Thunder enter training camp with a 17 man roster after releasing Markel Brown. light
Maynor returns to OKC:
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Former OKC Thunder point guard Eric Maynor is back in Oklahoma as he joins the OKC Blue coaching staff as an assistant with specific emphasis on player development. He’ll be part of Grant Gibbs staff and is joined by Daniel Brady and Caliph Mohammed.
Maynor spent four seasons with the Thunder averaging 4.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists over 183 appearances. His shooting splits were 39.6 from the field, 36.4 percent from the perimeter and 74.0 percent from the charity stripe.
At one time Maynor seemed like the perfect backup point guard but suffered a torn ACL versus the Rockets in 2012.
He returned to play 37 games for the OKC Thunder in the 2012-13 season prior to being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.
His first two seasons in the league the North Carolina native played in 81 and 82 games and did return to play a cumulative 64 with the Thunder and Blazers but played just 31 games in his final season in the NBA.
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He’ll be a great addition to the OKC Blue filling a much needed role of player development. More than ever this role becomes essential as the OKC Thunder prepare for their next golden era.