OKC Thunder Take a Swing on High Upside Swingman

The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking a swing on high upside wing in Dariq Whitehead. The Thunder have inked him to a contract that likely is in an effort to secure his G League rights. The Thunder can afford to see what the raw project swingman has left in him.

Oct 25, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Dariq Whitehead (0) head shot at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

During the preseason, NBA teams can carry up to 21 guys on their roster. In preparation for the grind of an 82 game slate, the league allows for extra bodies to help manage the load in training camp and throughout team's exhibition slate. Tomorrow, team's must trim their roster down to 15 standard contracts and three two-way spots.

Currently, the OKC Thunder already have all 15 roster spots accounted for. However, only two of the three two-way contracts are accounted for with Branden Carlson and Brooks Barnhizer on two-way pacts.

Throughout this Thunder training camp the organization has cycled through plenty of exhibition 10 contracts. While people might wonder why Oklahoma City is making these roster moves in quick succession another subplot of why the league allows for expanded rosters during this time period is to acquire a player's G League rights.

This helps flush out team's developmental rosters and with an organization like Oklahoma City they take it very seriously. Two years ago the Blue won the G League championship and throughout the team's existence the Blue have been key in developing talent for the varsity club.

Even on the Thunder's championship roster, Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Jaylin Williams, Alex Caruso, Branden Carlson and Ousmane Dieng all spent time with the OKC Blue with Isaiah Joe having G League experience at his previous stop with Philadelphia before the Thunder swooped him up.

Oklahoma City this preseason has brought in Malevy Leons, Chris Youngblood, Zack Austin, Jazian Gortman, Viktor Lakhin, Payton Sandfort, Buddy Boeheim, Erik Reynolds II and Cameron Brown.

After waiving Brown, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced today they have inked Dariq Whitehead to an exhibition 10 contract. While that third two-way spot is still open, it appears this is a move to simply add Whitehead to a loaded OKC Blue roster and take a shot on the once promising prospect.

Coming out of Duke, Whitehead was viewed as as lottery bound pick before injuries piled up shifting him down the draft board. Eventually his slid ended with the Brooklyn Nets selecting the now 21-year-old with the No. 22 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Through two season with the Nets, Whitehead averages 5.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.4 stocks per game while shooting 39% from the floor, 43% from beyond the arc and 57% from the charity stripe.

The third year swingman has only been able to log 22 career games in the NBA to date. Given the Thunder's elite developmental staff this is a high upside swing, a low risk but high reward move. The OKC Blue become must watch.