OKC Thunder Ink Christoph Tilly to Exhibit 10 Pact

The Oklahoma City Thunder will bring in Christoph Tilly to training camp.

Mar 13, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes center Christoph Tilly (13) drives to the basket against the Michigan Wolverines during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed center Christoph Tilly to an Exhibit-10 contract. He appeared in 118 games (91 starts) during his collegiate career between Santa Clara and Ohio State with averages of 9.7 points on 52.9% shooting, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 20.6 minutes. The team announced on Monday afternoon.

Exhibit-10 contracts can simply be viewed as training camp deals this time of year. It accomplishes a few goals. At this stage, NBA teams can carry 21 players and need warm bodies to get them through their training camp practices and the Thunder's loaded preseason slate, which features two back-to-back sets where the team will obviously look to avoid running regulars into the ground. Typically, Exhibit-10 pacts also secure a player's NBA G League rights, where Tilly falls in as the Undrafted Free Agent will likely make the G League his home.

However, this year's Exhibit-10 class of signings to bring typically younger players into training camp is of special interest in Bricktown. The Thunder currently sit with an open roster spot with just 14 standard roster contracts accounted for. This isn't unfamailiar territory for the Bricktown Ballers, look no further than the team's championship campaign in 2024-25. Oklahoma City started that season with an open spot that cycled around through Malevy Leons, Alex Reece and Branden Carlson before eventually landing full time with at the time rookie Ajay Mitchell.

There aren't many - if any - appealing free agents left on the board for the Thunder to plug into that final roster spot. The most likely outcome remains that the team will take one of these Exhibit-10 contracts and parlay them into a standard deal before the Oct. 20 season opener against the San Antonio Spurs on a non-guaranteed deal that keeps the flexibility in tact for Oklahoma City long-term while maximizing the amount of players the team can carry.

The team already has a loaded front court needing minutes spread between Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams, and even a pair of rookies in Thomas Sorber and Aday Mara. This leaves little to no run for Tilly at 7-feet tall if he were to be the player converted to a hypothetical standard roster pact for a stint.

In all likihood this is a move to improve and benefit the G League club as Tilly should perform well for the OKC Blue while helping the Thunder survive preseason.