Thunder Birth Extra Opportunities With Roster Sunset

The Thunder went 3-1 in Las Vegas Summer League pool play.

With the Oklahoma City Thunder in Vegas, for every one player out, there’s one filling the gashes.

During Friday’s contest versus the Golden State Warriors, the Thunder dialed back the roster bench Josh Giddey and Ousmane Dieng, who suffered a wrist injury prior to the game.

Given the Thunder carried a large void in the on-ball department, Kameron Woods looked up-and-down his bench to find some production. In the rotational jumble, two diamonds were carved in their Exhibit-10 pool.

Across the field of minutes, Exhibit-10 signees Gabe Brown and Jaden Shackelford jumped off the page, each producing 12-point efforts playing off the bench.

Brown, age 22, has played the most out of the Thunder’s five non-guaranteed Summer League signings. Despite starting the game rocky, the small forward found his stride from distance, scoring 12 points on a 4-of-8 clip from distance.

Shackelford, age 21, played just one minute before Friday’s outing. With his first real opportunity coming up against Golden State, he caught ablaze from beyond-the-arc. The former Alabama guard kicked things off like a microwave, getting right into his left-handed jumper before dialing up a bundle of live-dribble passes. He ended the night with 12 points on a 3-of-8 clip from deep.

With the Thunder signing the pair to Exhibit-10 deals, the Oklahoma City Blue would be the likely landing spots for Brown and Shackelford, assuming they do not head overseas for next season. Given the Thunder’s slew of on-ball pieces such as Dieng and Vit Krejci, it wouldn’t be shocking if those players dip down in stints with the Blue.

Based on the play flashed Friday, the Blue have to be happy by their Exhibit-10s showings as their shooting ability would pair up well with an additional ball-handler.