The Oklahoma City Thunder brought back most of their championship roster, but not all. Shooting guard Adam Flagler was not brought back and recently signed with the San Antonio Spurs.
In an interesting quirk of NBA rules, each team has a trio of players on their roster who are ineligible for postseason play -- two-way players. They have a specific set of rules as to how often they can practice with and play for the team, as those roster slots are intended to be a bridge between a team and their G League affiliate.
Yet while those players cannot play in the postseason, they do still count as a part of the team when they win a championship. That is why Adam Flagler is now an NBA champion despite being contractually unable to contribute to the Thunder's run to the title. And now if he wants to win another, he will have to do so with another franchise.
Adam Flager has left the building
The Thunder locked up most of their core players to extensions this summer, and when added on top of their work the year before they have double-digit players under contract for multiple seasons. Yet they did mix things up at the back end of the roster, and that includes turning over their two-way slots.
It was not a surprise to see them move on from Adam Flagler, a 25-year old undrafted guard out of Baylor who won a title alongside Davion Mitchell in college. His performance in 37 appearances for the Thunder last season -- largely in garbage time -- was abysmal. He shot 26 percent from the floor, 19.4 percent from deep and is not enough of a playmaker to be an on-ball point guard.
Yet there is something there with Flagler, and it's why he quickly signed on with another NBA team this summer, signing a contract with the San Antonio Spurs. He may have struggled in garbage time NBA minutes last season, but in his one G League appearance he casually dropped 31 points and eight 3-pointers on elite efficiency. He was similarly productive in previous appearances.
The Thunder have a type of player they love to prioritize: skilled, able to shoot, with positional size. Flagler doesn't check those boxes -- he should be a knockdown shooter, but he hasn't been yet as a professional. He may still have potential to catch on in the league, but it won't happen with the Thunder.
Oklahoma City added second-round pick Brooks Barnhizer to a two-way contract and brought back center Branden Carlson, but they still have one slot still open. Will they find a guard to step in for Flagler running garbage time units? The promise of both Ajay Mitchell and Nikola Topic suggests they could be in the rotation, and given how often the Thunder blow out an opponent having another guard to step in for the last six minutes of games could be a weirdly valuable role.
It will not be Flagler, who will seek to catch on with the Spurs and a different kind of superstar in Victor Wembanyama.