NBA
Oklahoma City agree terms to sign foward Olivier Sarr to Two-Way Contract
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All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated4 hours ago on April 19, 2024
After a very busy trade deadline, where the Thunder traded out a couple of players, the Oklahoma City side just signed foward big man Olivier Sarr to a Two-Way Contract, just as the Excecutive VP and GM San Presti announced this weekend.
The G League’s OKC Blue had signed Sarr on January 11th, but now returns to the Oklahoma City roster with terms of the agreement that were not made public as is usual by their management policy. The 23-year-old has been used as a trading asset before, as last year he was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers for a ten-day exhibition.
We back ⚡️ https://t.co/5HY6bqSgcm
— Olivier Sarr (@sarr_olivier) February 12, 2023
The Niort, France native started his career during three seasons at Wake Forest where he earned the ACC’s Most Improved Player award and opened his doors to a transfer to the University of Kentucky.
The six-foot-eleven athlete, who can also play as a center, had only participated in four games this season for the Thunder’s G League affiliate as he was only part of the squad for over three weeks. The player averaged 11.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.50 blocks in 20.9 minutes per game.
In his last adventure for the Thunder, Sarr averaged seven points and 4.2 rebounds, after appearing in 22 games for them in the 2021/22 regular season. As he only started twice in last year’s campaign, his best performance as an NBA player was back on April 3rd, when he dropped 24 points against the Phoenix Suns, with 5 three-pointers.
Watch the big man’s highlights that night as he also added 6 rebounds and 2 blocks:
Thunder’s movements during the last transfer window
Olivier Sarr’s addition comes at a perfect moment, after the Thunder traded out Darius Bazley and one of their most influential players, Mike Muscala. These transactions included acquiring the Suns’ Dario Saric and Boston’s Justin Jackson, who was recently waived as a free agent.
The Oklahoma City are now back to a full 17-man roster, as Eugene Omoruyi was also converted to a full-time roster spot. The only 2 two-way players on the squad are now Sarr and Lindy Waters III.
After the team lost a leading figure in Muscala, players like Kenrich Williams will have to fill his role, especially as a sharpshooter. Now more than ever, the Thunder will have to depend on their star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who has emerged as the team’s best player of the campaign.
Hopefully this will also prove the chance to bring opportunities for the team’s youngsters, as rookie center Jaylin Williams will be expected to earn lots of minutes and sophomore Jeremiah Robinson-Earl who’s should return soon from his ankle injury.
Most of our recommended sport betting sites consider the team from Oklahoma to have the 22nd best odds (+25000) to earn the NBA championship this year, as they are only ranking 10th in the Western Conference after 27 victories in 55 matches so far.
The Thunder now face the New Orleans Pelicans (29-28) who have a long injury list as CJ McCollum was now listed questionable for today’s clash at 7:00pm CST in the Paycom Center.
