The Thunder made a series of cuts, announcing on Friday that they were dropping protections Jair Smith and Anthony Pritchardalong with forward Andrew Holyfield.
Smith and Holyfield joined the Thunder prior to training camp and spent the entire preseason with the club, with Smith appearing in three games and Holyfield playing in all five of the team’s preseason contests. Pritchard signed his Agreement 10 from Oklahoma City after a week in camp, but still appeared in all five preseason games.
Smith, Pritchard and Holyfield are expected to report to the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League this fall. Based on the terms of their Exhibit 10 deals, each of these three players will receive a $91K bonus on top of their NBAGL base salary after spending at least 60 days with the Blues.
The Thunder now have 18 players under contract and could technically open the season with their current roster, but they likely aren’t done making roster moves yet — at least it looks like they’ll either waive the latest camp invitee, Christopher Tilleyor move him to a two-way contract before Monday’s roster cutoff deadline.
Here are some more minor transactions from around the NBA:
- The Predators signed the former Cincinnati guard to a contract Jalen Celestine To Annex 10 of the agreement, tweets Sportsnet.ca’s Blake Murphy. Celestin, a Canadian who went undrafted in June, played for Toronto’s Summer League team in July. He shot 38.9 percent from 3-point range over five college seasons at Cal, Baylor and Cincinnati.
- The Spurs refused protection John Elmoreaccording to NBA.com Transaction Log. Elmore, who was invited to camp and signed to an add-10 contract, played in four preseason games this month but had just five points and six assists in 38 minutes while making 2 of 8 shots from the floor. His next stop will likely be the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate.
- Soon after signing it to Annex 10 of the contract, The necklaces located center David Mooka on waivers, according to NBA.com. Muoka played for the Long Island Nets of the G League last season, averaging 5.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 17.7 minutes per game over 45 appearances. The Stockton Kings acquired his rights back from Long Island in a trade earlier this month.
- After signing and disowning his twin brother Jorge Diaz Graham, Mavericks did the same with the big man Guillermo Diaz Grahamcutting him Friday, the team announced (Link to Twitter). Both brothers are expected to open the season in the G League with the Texas Legends.
