Thunder sign former LOTTERY PICK | Breaking roster news...

The Thunder desperately needs some help and it is now on the way. We have breaking news as the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to Shams Charania, have made a signing for their 15th roster spot, a player that was a first round pick. Four years ago, had a breakout season with the Toronto Raptors in 2024, and then kind of fell down to the mud with the Brooklyn Nets and then with the New York Knicks in this preseason. A guy that you're basically putting out a waiver on and hoping that his NBA experience can at least remedy some of the pain that this team has gone through in the last week. So the breaking news here today on the channel, of course, the Thunder going out and making a signing. Help is on the way in the form of Ochai Abaji, a player that if you haven't heard of him before, his career and him getting to this point is kind of an interesting story. So he wins a national championship at the University of Kansas in his final season there. He declares for the draft in 2022, works out with the Thunder prior to, and that should say 2022, apologies on the typo, 2022 pre-draft process. 6'5 with a 6'10 wingspan, he is a true wing player, good motor, good positional defender that can guard from the 2 through the 4. A spotty three-point shooter who had a really good year with Toronto in 24, had a bit of a fall-off year from beyond the arc last year, and he had a bit of a rough go of things with the Knicks. That's why he was cut and why he ultimately was a free agent. So the Thunder making this move, not having to trade anything away, just putting out. And giving up some money to fill this open roster spot. So let's talk about exactly this fit for the Thunder. And why this is actually a really big help right now. The Thunder no longer seen as title favorites on Kelshi, 5% below the Spurs after the unfortunate developments of the last week. Today's video presented to you by Kalshi, so go click the link in the description, put in Digest NBA, you'll get $55 after your first $25 trade, and you can do it on all sporting topics like this one with the NBA champion. They have a ton of futures. Out there as well, stuff from all the way throughout the season, individual players, you've got sports, you've got weather, you've got music, you've got pop culture, anything you can think of. And you can trade against other players, not against a house. That's kind of what Kalshi brings. So that's what we're looking at with Kalshi. Appreciate them for sponsoring today's video. But Ochai Abaji and his scouting report obviously talked about the timeline to getting to the league. He was immediately traded before his rookie year. He was the 14th overall pick by the Cavs. Before he had a chance to show at all what he could do in Cleveland, he gets traded from the Cavs to the Jazz as a part of that blockbuster Donovan Mitchell trade. And then he ends up staying there for two years, has a breakthrough in Toronto, 10.4 points a game and nearly 40% from three. Then he goes to the Nets and just like how everything goes with Brooklyn, Anything that they touch seems to turn to dust. They have 5.1 points per game, and his three-point percentage fell below 35% as well. And now he's going to get an opportunity to help out a team that desperately needs him. This was his breakout season in 2024, as he was able to get 10.4 points a game, 60% true shooting. He played nearly 30 minutes a night. You see top 17 percentile and three point percentage, nearly 50% from the field. And he's a player that is going to help force turnovers. He's big. He can close out possessions defensively, and he gives the Thunder an immediate opportunity with the help that they need. NBA experience, bringing in a wing, 3 and D player. He's got flashes of reliable offense. I think that from what is out there on the market, and we don't know the exact terms of this contract yet, just reporting that he's filling that last roster spot. Nothing with the salary, nothing with the years on it, or the mechanism, if the Thunder used an exception, to bring this in. I would imagine this will be a fairly low value type of contract, especially when you consider where the Thunder are at financially, and that is kind of the tough thing with this right now. The Thunder just $8 million away from the second apron, so obviously... You're going to look to avoid that, and I would imagine this will be pretty close to a minimum contract type of situation with Ochai. And it was not hard to see that the Thunder desperately needed help. Their last game against the Mavericks, you get blown out by 24 points in Dallas. AJ Mitchell, SGA, they did their best in this game, but just the playmaking, the reliable shot making was not there. And the... Absolute terror to our eyes, that was the 24 minutes from Josh Dix, and then add on the 14 minutes that came from Brooks Barnheiser, and it was a tough sight to watch for the Thunder, and one that did not really seem sustainable all year long, so at least Ochai Ochai Agbaji is going to give the Thunder a good NBA player. That can help you out in some of those minutes. Goodbye to the extended Brooks minutes. Goodbye to the extended Josh Dix minutes. And how he is going to earn his value, Ochai, is going to be in getting his feet into the ground quickly in Oklahoma City, buying into being a defense-first player, utilizing his 6'10 wingspan, showing some of the consistent shot making, which he'll probably have to get some confidence back because obviously the ability is there. And he's going to try to earn a lasting role. His immediate job is filling those minutes and just giving you some quality minutes, which I would imagine would be 15 plus minutes a night, already with where the Thunder are at and their injury conundrum. But this is going to help OKC. I'm not saying this is going to be a world-shattering future MVP type of signing. Not at all. There's a reason why the dude's a free agent. But obviously better than what the Thunder have right now. And at this point in time, you will take it. This is the depth chart right now for Oklahoma City and how we project it with all of the injuries. You've obviously got Nikola Topic, who's still out. You've got Thomas Orber, who's still out. But I put them on the chart as players that should be available at some point in time. Chet Holmgren is still out as well. You'd hope that he can come back at least at some point here soon. There was a rumor that came out last night that he's going to miss extended time. The account that tweeted it deleted it. So we still don't really know what's up with Chet. Alex Caruso is going to be out for the time being as well with his ankle sprain. So you're going to see Agbaji step in and really help out in the three and the four. And so that kind of thing will be a big time help. So as we wrap up today's video, kind of projecting a little bit more of how the Thunder can use Agbaji, and I think that this will be a bigger, a much bigger impact signing than you go and get Micah Peavy as your final two-way player here a couple of days ago. I see the Thunder using this as somebody who can at least Guard, on ball, with players like Cooper Flagg that gave you a ton of issues the other night when you went to Dallas, he's a guy that can defend players like that with his size and with his tenacity, and so the ups and downs were obvious for Abaji. I showed you his best season, here was his last season, and you see that the numbers went way down, especially his three-point shooting. If he can just get that back, Which, it was a struggle last year when you look at his shot chart as well. Pulling this up now for you, I mean, you see that he was a 28% three-point shooter from the top of the key, and a 17% three-point shooter from the other corner. I mean, he's gotta get it back. Otherwise, this is gonna be a non-needle mover for OKC. He has to be able to knock down his shots, and if he can't, it's gonna be tough to keep him out there. Although, defensively, you would say... He's going to be a better spot for you than some of the two-way guys, and he has better upside than anything else that you could have. So. Yeah, again, the cap snapshot being that you don't really have a ton of money to spend. I'd expect a pretty short, cheap deal here. The Thunder still can very much be in the market for some trade conversations. There's been a couple more that have come out here today from some NBA insiders, so we're going to get some videos for you on those this weekend. Adding a wing player like that doesn't fully establish the Thunder. Our back, fully in contention. Ochai Abaji is going to save the day. No, the Thunder still have a lot to figure out. There's no doubt about it, but it's going to be a help. I want you guys to let me know down below now your immediate thoughts on this signing. Are you excited for his potential impact? Are you skeptical after a bad last season, a bad training camp, and a bad preseason this year that led to him getting cut? Are you not moved by it at all? Let me know down below your thoughts. And our comment spotlight of the day as we end this from the Azure Sky, for the money to get someone to fill that final roster spot, we most likely have to trade someone to get anyone that would add value of any significance rather than getting an okay player at best. Well, you know what, Azure, the Thunder did the best they can in this spot with not giving up any players. They're saving that and reserving judgment on that Later on in the season, if some of the injuries end up being longer term on some of the, you know, down bench guys like Topic, like Sorber, if Chet ends up being out for longer than you think, then you can cross that bridge when you get there on trading some of those guys and some draft capital to go get some. Bigger pieces to try to help you continue to win now. And if you are near OKC, this is near Midtown. The exact location, Midtown Mutts Park, it's right outside of it. So if you want to go pull up and sign this get well card for J-Dub and Kason, this just shows what the Thunder community is all about. Getting together, rallying around each other when you have players going through insanely unfair adversity. So, there's your breaking news of the day. The Thunder bringing in Ochai Abaji, national champion at Kansas. Then he becomes a successful player with the Raptors. Becomes a barely needle mover with the Nets last year. He's a free agent, probably the best free agent that was still available, and the Thunder have signed him. Again, let me know your thoughts down below. We'll see you guys next time on Thunder Digest.