Malevy Leons signs contract with Oklahoma City Thunder

[Da Coach]

Malevy Leons is in the starting lineup tonight for the Oklahoma City Thunder in their preseason game at home against the New Zealand Breakers, a pro team from the NBL (National Basketball League of Australia) - https://x.com/CAlmanza1007/status/1844505140545634610

It appears that the game is televised only by Bally Sports Oklahoma.

[Da Coach]

Starting lineups- https://x.com/okcthunder/status/1844530855513055390



Anyone interested in watching the OKC Thunder games, looks like the only option is to stream them with an NBA League Pass - https://www.nba.com/watch/league-pass-stream

Then click below the large banner picture where it says- "Only follow one team? Get Team Pass for $89.99/season"
From there, scroll down and select the Oklahoma City Thunder to purchase a season subscription to watch all the OKC Thunder games. That covers the whole season for $89.99.

[Da Coach]

7 minutes into the game, Malevy has 4 points (2-2 shooting), 1 rebound, and 1 assist as the OKC Thunder are trailing 23-26 to the New Zealand Breakers.

The OKC Thunder will post highlights of tonight's game here-
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/okcthunder/
X.com- https://x.com/okcthunder

Live Box score- https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401716981
Play-By-Play- https://www.espn.com/nba/playbyplay/_/gameId/401716981

[Da Coach]

Malevy Leons highlight clip- https://x.com/okcthunder/status/1844537139704328616

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SBwockLg1HY

[Da Coach]

Score at halftime- New Zealand Breakers 60 OKC Thunder 60
Box score- https://www.nba.com/game/nzb-vs-okc-...0029/box-score

Malevy finished the first half 4-5 from the field for 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block.

[Da Coach]

Another Malevy highlight, a steal and dunk - https://x.com/okcthunder/status/1844553951384862723

[Da Coach]

Final score- OKC Thunder 117 New Zealand Breakers 89 -
Box score- https://www.nba.com/game/nzb-vs-okc-...0029/box-score

Malevy started for the Thunder and played 34:22. He finished with 14 points on 7-8 shooting, and he also had 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals.

Another steal by Mal - https://x.com/okcthunder/status/1844550588761067834

Malevy Leons highlight reel- https://x.com/KJ__Hoops/status/1844567838872191398

[BengalFan14]

Great game Mal!

[bradleyfan124]

Final score- OKC Thunder 117 New Zealand Breakers 89 -
Box score- https://www.nba.com/game/nzb-vs-okc-...0029/box-score

Malevy started for the Thunder and played 34:22. He finished with 14 points on 7-8 shooting, and he also had 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals.

Another steal by Mal - https://x.com/okcthunder/status/1844550588761067834

Malevy Leons highlight reel- https://x.com/KJ__Hoops/status/1844567838872191398

Looked like they had a good crowd there

[Da Coach]

Looked like they had a good crowd there

Although it was a home game for OKC, the game was played in Tulsa. The Thunder did not bring their usual regular players to Tulsa, and instead brought only their rookies, and young players trying to make the roster. As a result, players like Malevy andother rookies got to start and play a lot of minutes (box score).
I saw a few people posting complaints on X.com about paying for tickets in their one opportunity to watch the Thunder in Tulsa, and not getting to see any of their stars or even their regular players.

[Mikovio]

Wonder if people were complaining about rookies getting too much playing time when draft pick Jordan and the Bulls visited Peoria 40 years ago.

[Da Coach]

Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault was impressed by Malevy Leons -
OKC Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault impressed with Malevy Leons - https://okcthunderwire.usatoday.com/...s/75645579007/

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault offered high praise for Leons after their win over the Breakers. The player development savant is piqued by his length and wingspan.

"He's a really unique player, really good player," Daigneault said. "Very effective, he impacts the game almost immediately. Great defender, great length, great body awareness. On offense, good feel for how to play, big-time offensive rebounder... He's been very impressive in his minutes and time in camp and town."

After going undrafted, Leons signed with the Thunder. He spent this past summer league on OKC's roster. He was invited back for training camp and stood out for the right reasons in his sole preseason outing. He'll likely be added to the G League's OKC Blue roster, where he'll get a chance to develop.

The Thunder have been one of the best teams at discovering hidden gems scattered throughout the league. If everything goes right, Leons could develop into a one-of-a-kind lengthy wing who could turn into what Aleksej Pokusevski was supposed to be before injuries derailed his progress.

[yoda]

The Thunder have started to waive some guys - Ryan & Boeheim were waived yesterday.
Ryan had only played briefly in 3 preseason games, Boeheim hadn’t played at all.

[BengalFan14]

Scoring wings are easy to find. Defensive wings are hard to find so Mal is a true commodity. Go Mal!!!

[Da Coach]

It looks like the OKC Thunder have 14 players under regular active NBA contracts. The maximum is 15, so they currently have one open roster spot. They are likely to wait to see who becomes available after all teams make their cuts and place players on waivers before they fill the final roster spot. They could start the season with just 14 players on the NBA roster, but that is less likely.
They have three players with 2-way/G-League contracts, which is the NBA maximum number of the 2-way deals a team can have.
Malevy is the only player left with the Exhibit 10 contract, which is only good for training camp. - https://www.salaryswish.com/teams/thunder

The fact that the Thunder waived the other 2 players they had on Exhibit 10 contracts, but not Malevy, would seem to be a good thing for now. But, they have to convert the Exhibit 10 contract before the regular season begins next Tuesday.
So, most likely, Malevy could get signed to the final roster spot with the team (min. salary $1,15,153), or be waived. To get a 2-way contract, the team would have to cut one of the three current 2-way players to make a 2-way contract available (salary $578,577). But that isn't likely. If he gets waived, and is not claimed by another team (it's not likely he'd get claimed) he would become a free agent. He could sign a G-League contract (min. salary $40,000) with the OKC G-League team (the Oklahoma City Blue) or with any other G-League team, or elsewhere, such as overseas. He would probably be able to make more money overseas, but players sometimes prefer the G-League because the NBA teams are more likely to follow him and possibly resign him later.