OKC Thunder Ink Interesting Sharpshooter to Two-Way Pact

The NBA season is almost here. That has left the rest of the NBA world scrambling to set their rosters on Saturday afternoon. As is tradition, the league allows for teams to carry up to 21 players during training camp and preseason to help manage the work load of players in training camp and preseason. In addition to that perk, flying through Exhibition ten pacts gives organizations a player's G League rights to bolster the team's developmental roster.

Oklahoma City has continued to churn through exhibition 10 pacts and on Saturday made their final cuts. The Thunder have waived exhibition ten contracts of Zack Austin, Malevy Leons and Dariq Whitehead, which accomplished the team's goal of securing their G League rights for the OKC Blue, who head into the NBA G League season with a stacked roster loaded with talent and the ability to threaten for another G League title after winning their first two seasons ago.

Along with these moves, the Thunder have converted the exhibition 10 contract of sharpshooter Chris Youngblood to the team's third two-way pact. Youngblood joins Brooks Barnhzier and Branden Carlson on two-way deals. This trio is not eligible for postseason play on their current contracts and can only play up to 50 NBA games before the team must make a decision on what to do with them. In the meantime, they can bounce up and down from the NBA to the G League throughout the year.

The Thunder prioritize the G League as a proving ground for their developmental plans for players. Now, with the talent they have down on the farm, it will be a functional and high-quality product on the court to give the OKC Thunder a proper evaluation point of their minor league club.

Youngblood has impressed at all levels of his career. Working his way from Kennesaw State to Alabama before stealing the show at NBA Summer League with the Oklahoma City Thunder and continuing his 3-point prowess in the preseason.

The reality remains that with this loaded roster, there is not much playing time to be had for the Thunder's third two-way rookie. However, there will be a minor role to be had for Youngblood.

Sure, he can see the floor during mop up duty of games that get out of hand in one direction or another. However, throughout Mark Daigneault's career he has loved to toss in sharpshooters at the end of each quarter during the final dead ball with a chance to steal away quick points.

To a certain degree, that is all you can expect from the 23-year-old guard. However, what remains true is that Youngblood has the quickest release on the roster and has shown to be one of the best movement shooters - a low bar to clear - on the 18 man group. If he can hone that craft in the G League over time, perhaps the Thunder will view him as a steal down the road. If nothing else, this serves as great of a purpose as a two-way player can.