The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded Lindy Waters III to the Golden State Warriors for the No. 52 pick of the 2024 NBA draft, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
This gives the Thunder a shot to add another rookie to their draft class. They selected Nikola Topic with the No. 12 pick and Dillon Jones with the No. 26 pick in the first round.
This marks the end of Waters III’s three-season tenure with the Thunder. He was a two-way player for most of his time at OKC and was converted to a standard deal twice. He has a $2.2 million team option for next season.
The 26-year-old was buried on the depth chart last season and seldom played. He averaged 3.6 points on 47.1% shooting, 1.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists. He shot 43.5% from 3 on 2.2 attempts.
This is cheap depth for the expensive Warriors. Waters III has shown flashes of being a good shooter, which is always a hot commodity in the league.
Meanwhile, OKC flips someone who was likely going to get his option declined for a cheap second-round rookie. There’s a decent chance who they add will be in a two-way slot next season.
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