Warriors' Preseason Standout Signs 2-Year Deal with Thunder

The Golden State Warriors chose not to give Dalen Terry a standard contract, and now they are facing the consquences.

The Oklahoma City Thunder gave Terry a two-year standard contract on Tuesday, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

Terry spent training camp and preseason with the Warriors. The only game Terry got a lot of playing time in preseason, he went off. He had 23 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals in 43 minutes against the Trail Blazers.

Terry was not eligible for a two-way contract. His only shot at a standard contract with the Warriors was them making a trade to open a roster spot or releasing Brandon Williams (who at the time had a non-guaranteed contract).

The Warriors did neither, which meant Terry was expected to play out this season with the Santa Cruz Warriors if he couldn't land a standard contract from an NBA team.

The Thunder have been ravaged by injuries this season. They had an open roster spot, and it comes as no surprise they'd use it on Terry, a 6'6" wing who spent the last four seasons in the NBA.

Did Warriors Make a Mistake Not Finding Spot for Terry?

Terry has the archetype of a player the Warriors could really use, as he has enough length to guard some bigger wings.

it would have been nice to find a spot for him, but they didn't make an obvious mistake with their other free-agent decisions.

The last two players they signed, Williams and Georges Niang, have been key bench pieces to their 5-3 start.

Gary Payton II has not found his rhythm yet this season, so one could argue that Terry would have been a better fit than him.

But keep in mind that Payton had one of the best seasons of his career last year, averaging a career-high 7.5 points on 58.3 percent shooting. Retaining him on a veteran minimum contract is hardly a mistake.

Had Terry remained in the Warriors organization, he would have had a chance to get a contract promotion later in the year if the Dubs made a trade in which they gave more players than they received.

But outside of that, he was probably never gonna get a standard contract from the Dubs this season.

The Warriors' loss is the Thunder's gain. He'll likely get some immediate playing time as the Thunder figure out their rotation plan with Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace and Chet Holmgren suffering long-term injuries.

Add us as a preferred source on Google