Former Oklahoma State Star Headed to Warriors in Draft Day Trade
A former Oklahoma State star is headed to the Bay.
On Thursday, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded former OSU guard Lindy Waters III to the Golden State Warriors for the No. 52 pick in the NBA Draft ahead of the beginning of the second round. According to a report from Anthony Slater, the Warriors plan to exercise Waters’ team option and keep him for the 2024-25 season.
Last season, Golden State went 46-36 and lost as the No. 10 seed in its play-in game against the Sacramento Kings. As the Warriors look to rebuild the roster around Stephen Curry for next season, they could use cheap, reliable talent like Waters.
In his third season with the Thunder, Waters played sparingly as the team rose to the top of the Western Conference. He averaged a career-low 7.4 minutes per game in 38 appearances. Although he did not play as much as in recent years, Waters had his best season from 3-point range, making 43.5% of his shots from there.
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Waters joined the Thunder in the middle of their rebuild during the 2021-22 season and played 18.6 minutes per game in 25 appearances in his rookie season. As he has adjusted to the NBA over the past couple of seasons, Waters became a player trusted by Thunder coach Mark Daigneault for select situations.
With Oklahoma City set to add a third player through this season’s draft, Waters’ spot on the roster was becoming less certain. This move allows the Thunder and Warriors to bolster their rosters in different ways and allows Waters to compete for a spot in the rotation in Golden State.
Before signing with the Thunder, Waters had played for the OKC Blue in the G League, where he continued to make appearances throughout his Thunder tenure.
In four seasons at OSU, Waters helped the Cowboys make the NCAA Tournament as a freshman and became a reliable scoring option in Stillwater as his career progressed. In the 2018-19 season, Waters was second on the team in scoring with 12.2 points per game and shot 39% from 3-point range throughout his college career.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.