The Oklahoma City Thunder's showing in the Salt Lake City portion of Summer League was, let's just say, less than inspiring— at least from a team perspective.
They lost all three games, finishing off their trip with a 69-103 loss to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. Thankfully, team results don't matter in Summer League. Individual player performances do. And all of the Thunder's rookies showed flashes at some point during that first three-game stretch.
Aday Mara displayed some nice offensive touch in the paint, finishing a couple thunderous dunks and flashing his passing skill-set from the post. Otega Oweh was consistently aggressive on defense and getting downhill with the ball in his hands, even if it didn't always translate to points. Even Josh Dix, who Oklahoma City added as an undrafted free agent, had a solid outing as a perimeter shooter in that matchup against the Jazz, posting 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
But while both Mara and Oweh have already partially justified their selections by the Thunder, Dix still has a lot more to prove as Oklahoma City heads to Las Vegas. Can he play defense at an NBA level, and how consistent is his 3-point shot?
Josh Dix still needs to prove himself in Summer League to justify his two-way contract for 2026-27
While Oweh and Dix profile similarly as athletic wings, Oweh's fit with the Thunder makes a lot more sense in the short-term. Oweh is an aggressive and capable defender, and the offensive upside is there if he can start to hit his perimeter shots more consistently. If a player can fit into Oklahoma City's defensive scheme, they always have a chance to earn real minutes.
Dix's concerns are the opposite. Although he had a down year on an abysmal Creighton offense last season, Dix shot over 40% from 3-point range in each of his first three college seasons at Iowa. But he often looks outmatched both physically and athletically on defense. At times against the Jazz, Dix not only looked completely out of his depth on-ball, but he often looked clueless off-ball, wandering and compromising the entirety of the Thunder's defensive attack.
Unless there's rapid improvement from Dix this offseason, it's difficult to envision him earning any sort of real minutes in the Thunder's rotation as a rookie.
Granted, the path for that was exceedingly steep in the first place. Even after the trades of Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, Oklahoma City's rotation is still one of the deepest in the league. Dix, at best, is a developmental bet for a team that is always in need of additional perimeter shooting.
But Dix's two-way contract means that, at least in the short-term, he's taking an NBA opportunity away from players like Payton Sandfort and Christoph Tilly. He needs to show, therefore, that he has the tools and the willingness to improve on the defensive end and hit his shots more consistently.
Always take summer league developments with a grain of salt, but it's certainly worth keeping an eye on Dix once the Thunder arrive in Las Vegas.
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