The Oklahoma City Thunder might have found another hidden gem. Josh Dix is on a two-way contract with the Thunder heading into this year, and he already looks like a very interesting developmental piece.
They could copy the same path the Boston Celtics took with Sam Hauser – an undrafted free agent who developed into an elite three-point option.
Dix and Hauser aren’t exactly the same, but they have very similar builds. Both are tall wings who can shoot lights out when given the chance. And in one of the Thunder’s most recent preseason games, Dix showed off his three-point touch.
He put up 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field, but more importantly, 4-of-10 shooting from deep against the Atlanta Hawks.
It would take a lot for Dix to match the success that Hauser has had throughout the course of his NBA career thus far, but perhaps the Thunder can help him get there.
Josh Dix could turn into Thunder's Sam Hauser
When Hauser entered the league, he joined the Celtics on a two-way contract. That’s exactly what happened with Dix and the Thunder, though OKC’s rotation could be much tougher to crack.
It took Hauser about a year to see regular rotation minutes, and even then, he wasn’t a huge piece of the 2024 Championship playoff rotation. But now, he’s an integral piece of the puzzle in Boston.
For Dix, he has a long way to go before he’s getting real minutes in OKC. And in reality, the most likely scenario is that he never does. But it’s not impossible. And OKC needs to copy Boston’s path.
The biggest difference between Hauser and Dix is that Hauser was a 40 percent three-point shooter every single season he spent in college. Dix was, too… until his senior year.
Last season at Creighton, Dix shot 33.8 percent from deep on 6.0 attempts a game. Every year he spent at Iowa before that (three years), he shot above 40 percent, even if it was on low volume.
But maybe that year was a fluke. Are you going to base your analysis on one year of mid-level shooting or three years of elite shooting? The answer is probably a blend of both, but Dix could still be a great shooting option.
OKC needs to handle his development carefully. Because if they do, he could eventually blossom into the reliable three-point shooter that Hauser is for the Celtics today.
And that would make him a dangerous part of the Thunder’s rotation.
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