OKC Thunder ink Jack White to a standard NBA Deal, what is next?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are signing Jack White to a multi-year deal on day two of NBA Free Agency. White spent the past season with the NBA Champions on a two-way pact for the Denver Nuggets. White played in just 17 games during his rookie season, averaging a point and rebound per contest shooting 42 percent from the floor.

White spent most of his season with the Denver Nuggets’ G-League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold. White dominated the G-League competition to the tune of 43% from beyond the arc on 97 attempts, 61% inside the arc, and 18 points per game. The OKC Thunder signs Jack White on the heels of bringing Vasilije Micic over from the EuroLeague and trading for Victor Oladipo from the Miami Heat. This puts the Oklahoma City Thunder in an interesting spot, three standard contracts over the 15-pact limit.

The OKC Thunder have inked Jack White to a multi-year deal, luring him away from the Denver Nuggets.

This is quite the upgrade for White, going from a two-way contract to a standard NBA deal. He also joins fellow Australian Josh Giddey. Like Giddey and Ousmane Dieng, White played in the NBL before joining the NBA. Giddey and White will join forces early this season, playing for Team Australia at the World Cup in August.

In the G-League, White was a play-finishing stretch-five. White ranked in the 85th percentile in transition, 76th percentile on cuts, 91st percentile on post-ups, 84th percentile in isolation (Just 12 attempts), and 79th percentile on spot-up looks. White nailed 46% of his catch-and-shoot looks, which bumped up to 47% when left unguarded. At the rim, White converted at a 62% clip. Jack White is an undersized four at 6’7 and 225 pounds, though he got the job done in the G-League.

While it is not unheard of (shout out Ronnie Price!), it is not likely to ink a player to a standard contract in the summer before waiving him prior to the start of the NBA season. Though, this could be a bit of a “prove it” deal issued by Sam Presti, who always craves training camp competition. The presence of Jack White certainly turns up the heat on the bottom half of this roster as three roster cuts loom between now and opening night. He certainly has Josh Giddey’s sign of approval.

It is unclear if Jack White will join the OKC Thunder in Summer League when the team heads to Vegas. Obviously, this move can not be made official until the moratorium ends on July 7th. The Thunder play their first game in Vegas on July 8th, where Cason Wallace will join the team. The Kentucky rookie will also miss the Salt Lake City session (July 3rd-6th) due to a bookkeeping technicality.