The Oklahoma City Thunder have finalised their roster

The start of the regular season is just around the corner and the Thunder have now officially finalised their roster. Earlier today, Oklahoma City waived Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss and David Nwaba. All of the four players acquired in the Rockets’ trade have now been waived; Sterling Brown was immediately released after the trade was agreed.

Getting rid of three players created a roster spot for the Thunder to sign Isaiah Joe from the Sixers on a multi-year contract. The details of the contract have not been released but the Thunder have precedent with deals like this.

Luguentz Dort’s first contract with the organisation was a multi-year deal with opt-outs after every single year. It would not be surprising to see that Joe has agreed a team-friendly, small value contract as Lu Dort did before him.

Joe was affectionally named as a ‘Flamethrower’ by Doc Rivers, the Philadelphia head coach. His nickname accurately sums up Joe’s game; he is a shooter with exceptional range who can get white-hot from downtown. It is also worth noting that Isaiah represented Arkansas at the collegiate level and played in the same high school as Jaylin Williams.

Joe was the final addition to the roster and the team has now been finalised.

As a whole, this Thunder roster looks to fit Coach Daigneault’s approach to basketball. It is a roster laden with playmakers and sharpshooters which should mean that the Thunder can cut teams apart with sharp, incisive passing.

I expect Sam Presti to tinker with the roster as the season progresses as there are still roster choices to be considered. Lindy Waters III is a homegrown 3-point marksman who impressed deeply last season and likely warrants a contract from the Thunder. At the moment, there is no roster spot to sign him to a contract with the main roster.

Oklahoma City would need to trade a player in order to get Lindy on the team for the long-term. A potential Bazley trade may go some way to addressing that matter but it remains to be seen how Bazley’s contract situation plays out.