A Look Back at Olivier Sarr’s Time in OKC

Is this the last time we see Olivier Sarr in OKC?

The Thunder have gone through a whirlwind of roster moves in recent weeks, culminating in a pair of Sporcle-worthy starting lineups for Tuesday and Wednesday's back-to-back.

First five.

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While OKC trotted out the same starting five for both games, the box score for Wednesday night’s loss in Utah was without the Thunder’s resident french big man: Olivier Sarr.

A few Twitter jokesters have theorized that Sarr’s departure was due to his 10 points, 12 rebound performance the night prior that led OKC to a 98-94 win against the Portland Trailblazers.

But in reality, this doesn’t appear to have been a spur-of-the-moment decision that Sarr was replaced with former G League teammate Melvin Frazier Jr.

"We were planning on cycling the spot when we signed Sarr... Frazier's a guy we wanna reward with an opportunity... We wanna take care of guys who take care of us,” coach Mark Daigneault said.

He later went on to explain that had Jeremiah Robinson-Earl not gotten injured in early February — forcing OKC to keep Sarr on as needed depth — his time with the Thunder would have been even shorter.

Sarr played 22 games in total for OKC this season — two as a Covid replacement in December and another 20 following his signing a two-way deal with the Thunder on Feb. 21.

Sarr averaged seven points and 4.2 rebounds in 19.1 minutes per game, showing flashes of his ability to space the floor — shooting 44.8% on 1.3 attempts from deep.

Looking ahead to next season it’s not entirely out of the question Sarr get another phone call for a second two-way contract. At 7-feet and only just turning 23 in February, Sarr brings the size and youth OKC could be looking for as it sills out the roster.

This will depend on two things; whether the Thunder select a center with one of its first-round picks, and whether or not Derrick Favors is bought out or traded. With Robinson-Earl and Mike Muscala all but guaranteed to be on the roster for next season, and Isaiah Roby having a team option, the Thunder will enter the draft with most of its front-court set. A rookie big man or another season of Favors would mean the Thunder using its two-way deals somewhere else.

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