The OKC Thunder wrapped up their NBA draft class with four new rookies. While the two first-round picks, Josh Giddey and Tre Mann will automatically be placed on a guaranteed NBA deal, that is not the case for second-round picks.
The Thunder have the ability to place their second-round selections, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins, on several different contract structures. This includes two-way pacts.
The OKC Thunder sign Aaron Wiggins to a two-way contract
The Oklahoma City Thunder have inked Aaron Wiggins to a two-way contract. This deal allows Wiggins to play 50 NBA games this season before converting to a full-time NBA agreement. The OKC Thunder can also send Wiggins to the OKC Blue during what should be a more normal NBA G-League season.
This year, the NBA will continue to let two-way players practice with the team and not count against the 50 day NBA total, this is a luxury Lu Dort did not have during his two-way season.
Aaron Wiggins will have minutes at both the G-League and NBA level to prove himself. The OKC Thunder are on a recent run of success stories when it comes to converting two-way contracts. Some fanbases around the league view two-way pacts as a drop in the bucket, who cares?
For Thunder fans, they have seen Deonte Burton, Lu Dort, Moses Brown, and Charlie Brown Jr all ink multi-year deals with Oklahoma City after first being placed on two-way agreements.
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With this deal in place, it seems obvious that Wiggins will participate in the NBA Summer League next week in Vegas. Sam Presti notes that the hope is for all four rookies to compete in the Summer circuit.
Teams can only ink two players at a time to a two-way slot, so Wiggins narrows that down to just one available two-way contract.
The Thunder face a massive roster crunch ahead of the 2021-22 NBA Season.
Oklahoma City will have a tough decision to make when evaluating who to extend that final two-way pact to.
The options are endless, but the two likely candidates for the final spot are Josh Hall and Jaylen Hoard.
Each spent time on two-way agreements last year with OKC. Hall, a promising young player, saw his season derailed by injuries. Hoard had more success on the floor though in a limited run.
It appears as though each player will head to Summer League with the organization, and possibly be battling for their right to join the team next season.
Aaron Wiggins will have a clear rooting interest in that battle as Hoard is his long-time hometown buddy.