How Lindy Waters Can Secure a Roster Spot in Oklahoma City

One of the new trends in the modern NBA is finding under-the-radar sharp shooters and signing them long term on value deals. The Miami Heat have been a prime example of this, with both Duncan Robinson and Max Strus coming to mind immediately.

Oklahoma City really struggled from behind the line last season and continued to fire away. The Thunder shot a league-worst 32.3% from distance. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the team’s closest player to an All-Star, struggled from distance last season while tweaking his mechanics. Outside of SGA, the Thunder lacked any true threat from outside.

Lindy Waters was signed over the second half of the season, inking a two-way deal with the Thunder in February. The deal came after Waters made a name for himself in the G League, hovering around 50% from 3-point range over the season.

In 25 games with the Thunder, Waters drilled 36.3% of his triples and averaged eight points per game. He did so with some of the worst spacing in the NBA and a serious lack of offensive creation when Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey missed time down the stretch.

Waters may never play heavy minutes for the Thunder, but his potential value in certain situations could be very useful. Long range shooters are at a premium in the NBA, and teams are willing to pay the price to surround stars with accurate 3-point shooters. With Oklahoma City’s current structure of the young core, they’ll have a lot of money to give out to current prospects.

He continued to look comfortable over the course of the summer league and looks to be developing chemistry as a “veteran” among the young rookies. If Waters can continue to develop into an elite shooter, he can secure a roster spot and save the Thunder money. Oklahoma City will always have room on the roster for an elite spot-up shooter.

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