Former Oklahoma City Thunder guard Zavier Simpson just signed with the Ningbo Rockets of the CBA in China, according to Alberto De Roa's HoopsHype database. Though Simpson only appeared in four games for the Thunder back in the 2021-22 season, he played a whopping 43.5 minutes per contest and earned a very unique place in OKC lore.
He started all four games he played for the Thunder that season and was part of some of the most hilariously bad first fives in OKC’s history. Now, he’ll move on to a career in China, all the while, the Thunder have come a very, very long way since the days when he was a starter in blue and orange.
The Thunder are now NBA Champions, but when Simpson was suiting up for them, that was far from the case.
What were the Zavier Simpson Thunder teams like?
OKC went 1-3 in the four games Simpson played in, and in the process, they rolled out some very interesting lineups, to say the least. They were so “interesting” that fans still talk about them to this day.
When the Thunder won the 2025 NBA Championship, pictures of those lineups began circling the internet, from Reddit to Twitter. Fans who had been following the team for years cheered as they had “lived through” those lineups and made it to the promised land with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren leading the way.
In Simpson’s four starts with the Thunder, he joined Jaylen Hoard, Isaiah Roby, Georgios Kalaitzakis, and Vit Krejci on the court. Of those guys, Simpson included, only one is still in the NBA: Krejci. He spent last season with the Atlanta Hawks. All five guys started all four of the games—the final four games of the 2021-22 season.
At the time, the Thunder were very clearly pointing in a specific direction: Down. They had no interest in winning those games. And the fact that they beat the Portland Trail Blazers was more a testament to their own tanking efforts, as they played a starting five that included CJ Elleby and Greg Brown III.
And in the end, everything worked out in the Thunder’s favor. They landed the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, selecting Holmgren after the Orlando Magic took Paolo Banchero at one.
Plus, the Thunder took Williams with the No. 12 pick in the same draft, though that one didn’t have a direct correlation with their own tanking efforts.
Simpson’s time with OKC was brief, but notable. Now, he’s moving on from the NBA. And the Thunder are on top of the NBA.