OKC Thunder: Former OKC Blue player Scotty Hopson signs in Australia

After coming back to the OKC Blue, OKC Thunder prospect Scotty Hopson has chosen to go back to Australia to play in the NBL.

After debating whether Scotty Hopson had what it takes to make it in the NBA with the OKC Thunder, he has chosen to return to Australia to play in the NBL. He has signed a deal to play with Melbourne United.

Hopson played for the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL between the two G-League stints with the OKC Blue. He averaged 19.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in the NBL before joining the Blue for six games prior to the pandemic shutting the G-League down for the season.

In his six games back last season with the Blue, Hopson averaged 18.5 points, 3.3 assists, and 3.2 rebounds. He started all the games that he was helping the Blue get back into playoff contention before the shutdown. The numbers compare well to his 2018-19 G-League averages of 16.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals in 35 games for the Blue.

Why Scotty Hopson is not playing for the OKC Thunder.

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Hopson had two shots at an NBA career. The first was in 2013-14 where he played two games for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Then he made the Dallas Mavericks squad and played a single game in the 2017-18 season.

Right now, the biggest problem for Hopson is his age. At 31 he does not fit the timeline of the rebuild at all. He could have had a chance if the Thunder were looking for some extra scoring if they ran it back.

Now they are looking at assessing younger talent to see who is going to take the franchise forward. Hopson will be 33 by the time the Thunder have their early pieces for the next period of success. He may come back to the Blue but it will take a huge change of events to ever see him play for the Thunder.