Thunder Tracker: OKC Finalizes 15-Man Roster
This Oklahoma City Thunder tracker keeps you informed on the latest news and rumors surrounding the team throughout the offseason.
OCT 15: FINAL DAY MOVES The Thunder made quite a few moves on Friday as they finalized their 15-man roster.
For starters, they signed guard Zavier Simpson, who through 15 games with the Blue last season averaged 9.8 points, 6.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds. He was later waived by the team. From there, they signed center Oliver Sarr and guard Justin Jaworski who were also waived shortly after. All three of these guys will likely play for the Blue in the G League this season.
In the final move to trim down the roster, OKC waived forward Mamadi Diakite, who averaged 4.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 12.2 minutes in two Thunder preseason games.
OCT 15: TRIMMING THE ROSTER Now that the preseason is over, it’s time for OKC to trim down the roster and decide on their final 15-man roster.
As such, the Thunder waived Scotty Hopson and DJ Wilson on Friday. Hopson was just signed the day prior, while Wilson spent the entire training camp with the team and played limited action in the preseason.
OCT 14: RAPID ROSTER MOVES Less than two days after signing Melvin Frazier, the Thunder waived him on Thursday.
Shortly after, Oklahoma City filled his spot by signing Scotty Hopson. He’s yet another familiar face to the Thunder organization. Hopson appeared in 41 games with the Blue from 2018-20, including six games in 2020 where he averaged 18.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 31.2 minutes.
OCT 12: WELCOME, MELVIN In yet another roster move as OKC evaluates talent and obtains G League rights, they signed former Magic guard, Melvin Frazier. He spent last season playing 12 games in the G League with the OKC Blue.
While he likely won't make the Thunder roster, or even play in a preseason game for that matter, he's an interesting piece to discover. Frazier played in college at Tulane and was the No. 35 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
OCT 12: HOARD'S STINT ENDS Less than 24 hours after being signed by the Thunder, Jaylen Hoard was waived. There's a good chance he will end up playing for the Oklahoma City Blue again this season in the G League.
OCT 11: BRINGING BACK A FAMILIAR FACE Shortly after waiving Rob Edwards, the Thunder signed forward Jaylen Hoard. In 19 games last season with OKC, Hoard averaged 6.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 16.8 minutes.
Hoard was also a player that the Thunder brought into NBA Summer League, where he looked solid. He isn't guaranteed a roster spot, but he'll have the opportunity to compete during the remainder of camp.
OCT 11: FIRST CUT OF CAMP As the Thunder get closer to the start of the regular season, they're going to have to start trimming down the roster. The first person that was waived by the team was guard Rob Edwards.
On Sunday against the Bucks, Edwards finished with six points in four minutes played off the bench, hitting two of his three attempted 3-pointers. He will be a frontrunner for earning a spot with Oklahoma City's G League affiliate, the Blue, for the upcoming season.
SEP 27: FILLING OUT THE ROSTER With one day until training camp, the Thunder filled their final two training camp roster spots with Rob Edwards and DJ Wilson.
Wilson played with the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets last season, averaging 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. A 6-foot-10 forward, he’ll be one of the taller players on the entire roster in training camp.
Edwards is a familiar face in OKC, as a former college teammate of Lu Dort and member of the Oklahoma City Blue last season in the G League. The 6-foot-5 guard also played for the Thunder in NBA Summer League this offseason, averaging 11.2 points per contest while shooting 33.3% from beyond the arc.
SEP 27: THE END OF CHARLIE BROWN Oklahoma City announced the night before media day that they’ve have waived Charlie Brown Jr. and subsequently signed Mamadi Diakite. Brown was signed to a non-guaranteed multi-year deal at the end of last season.
Diakite was acquired by the thunder off waivers from the Milwaukee Bucks. The 24-year-old power forward averaged 3.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 14 NBA contests. He signed a two-way deal with the Bucks, which was converted to a multi-year standard contract later on. Diakite will provide much-needed center depth heading into training camp.
SEP 24: FULLY VACCINATED ROSTER Thunder GM Sam Presti announced that the entire roster has been fully vaccinated ahead of the 2021-22 season. This will ensure that there are no restrictions in terms of players not being able to play in certain cities.
“The disruptions in my opinion are going to come by way of the fact that the NBA isn’t testing players or staff members,” Presti said. “Organizationally, we’re going to be surveillance testing our staff. We’re not going to be doing it every day, but we are going to be testing basketball staff so we try to avoid some outbreaks.”
SEP 12: OKC MAKES LATE TWO-WAY CHANGE Oklahoma City waived Josh Hall, who they had signed to a two-way deal earlier in the summer. This opened up a spot, which was filled by Paul Watson Jr.
Watson Jr. is a 6-foot-6 guard who's known for being an excellent 3-point shooter. He will be 27 years old for the majority of the 2021-22 season and last played for the Toronto Raptors.
SEP 3: THUNDER FINALLY SIGN 2020 PICK The Oklahoma City Thunder announced that they have signed Vít Krejci to a multi-year contract. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.
The Czech guard was selected 37th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards but the Thunder acquired his rights in a trade that night. He fits the mold of the tall, positionless roster OKC is looking to build out.
AUG 31: GABE DECK IS STAYING IN NBA Marca, one of the biggest sports newspapers in Spain, reported that Deck and his camp had every intention of returning to the NBA, going so far as to say that Deck would be working to renew his work visa as soon as the Olympics concluded.
26-year-old EuroLeague star signed a four year contract worth $14.5 million back in April and averaged 8.4 points and 4.0 rebounds through his first ten NBA games.
AUG 30: OKC HAD NO INTEREST IN MARKKANEN? After being sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a three-team deal, Lauri Markkanen is no longer a target for the Thunder. However, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Oklahoma City wasn't one of the teams that was seriously interested in making a move for the talented young forward.
Chicago had sign-and-trade interest for Markkanen from the following teams, according to sources: Dallas, New Orleans, Cleveland, Minnesota, San Antonio, Sacramento and Boston. The Bulls had driven a hard bargain, refusing trade offers and eventually being hung up on a second-round pick from Cleveland, sources said.
As OKC continues to rebuild and acquire assets, it appears that Markkanen wasn't part of their plans. At this point, the Thunder may not be active on the trade market the remainder of the offseason and could take their current roster into training camp.
AUG 28: NEW HOME FOR SVI The Oklahoma City Thunder decided to part ways with Svi Mykhailiuk after just 30 games with the team. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the 6-foot-7 wing will join the Toronto Raptors on a two-year deal.
Mykhailiuk will have a player option in the second season. Several contenders expressed interest in his services before he ultimately chose Toronto as his next destination.
Last season in Oklahoma City, Mykhailiuk averaged 10.3. points and 3.0 rebounds per game while shooting 33.6 percent from beyond the arc. He was acquired by the Thunder in a deal for Hamidou Diallo just before the trade deadline.
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