Thunder Add Front Court Depth With Roster Move

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed Malevy Leons to a one-year pact while waiving Alex Reese prior to their West Coast road trip after a 4-0 start.

Malevy Leons is pictured during the Thunder media day at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. / NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Thursday, the Oklahoma City Thunder shook up their roster after their 4-0 start. The team announced that they have waived forward Alex Reese - who inked a standard contract out of training camp after the run of injuries the Thunder suffered in exhibition play - and have signed Bradley stand out Malevy Leons, who was stellar for Oklahoma City in preseason play.

Reese's interesting path to the NBA hits another road block, the former Bartender and moving service staffer turned G League starter scored his first career NBA points for the Thunder on Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks, only earning mop up duty for Oklahoma CIty.

Leons averaged five points, nearly an assist, two rebounds and a steal per game in the preseason while shooting 69 percent from the floor and a perfect mark at the charity stripe.

This standard NBA spot to Leons is assuredly easy to dump just as the Thunder did with Reese, and with Wednesday's news that Jaylin Williams re-irritated his hamstring, sideling him for multiple weeks, Leons offers a better insurance policy than Reese could.

Bradley earned two time all-defensive honors in the Mountain Valley Conference, including being the defensive player in the year twice in conference and making the all-conference team as many times.

The 6-foot-9 forward is a more natural small ball five with more physical tools to wall up and defend at the rim in a pinch for the Thunder should they need a third big man during this spell without Isaiah Hartenstein, Kenrich Williams or Jaylin Williams.

Leons was excellent defending the rim in college, letting up just 38 percent at the cup, ranking in the 83rd percentile in college basketball.

The savvy cutter could also fit in with the Thunder's offense but ultimately, Oklahoma City will still lean on Chet Holmgren and Ousmane Dieng to fill time down low. However, with more three games in four night stretches coming up, it is a lot to ask of just two players.

This move doesn't necessarily close the book on Reese's time in Bricktown as the Alabama product should be able to play for the OKC Blue - who are ramping up in training camp - if things work out. However, the Blue would need to make a trade with the Rip Center Remix to acquire his G League rights since Reese played for them a year ago.

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