Malevy Leons signs contract with Oklahoma City Thunder

[Da Coach]

What a week! Last Saturday, Bradley got a commitment from the top 2025 recruit in the state of Illinois, and last night, Bradley grad Malevy Leons made his NBA debut. And now in 2 days, the 2024-2 season starts with Bradley picked to win the conference.
Recall that Malevy had the chance to follow Rienk Mast into the transfer portal in March, 2023. And he certainly would have had offers for much bigger NIL money elsewhere. But he showed his loyalty to Bradley and opted to stay and play another year for the Braves.
How can any Bradley fan not love this guy?

[Da Coach]

Article by Dave Eminian of the PJ Star - https://www.pjstar.com/story/sports/...k/76008227007/


Btw, the Oklahoma City Thunder play their next game tonight in Los Angeles against the Clippers at the spectacular new $2 billion Intuit Dome at 9:30 pm Central time.
The only viewing option posted is the NBA League Pass .

[KillerB]

Ran across this on X..

https://x.com/i/status/1852569644323803332

[Stevezall]

I just saw the Video of Malevy Barking and getting the game ball in his first regular season Game! I believe he scored his first point and had an assist! So happy for Malevy! We were so lucky to have him play for Bradley! He's a special person who showed his loyalty to Bradley when he stayed for his final year! I hope we have more of these stories to add to Bradley's incredible basketball History!

[yoda]

OKC playing right now at LA Clippers
Here's a link to streaming - https://thetvapp.to/event/oklahoma-c...2666aff292e7c/

[Da Coach]

Malevy got into he OKC Thunder game last night only for the final 3:24 of the game, and missed his only shot attempt. The Thunder beat the LA Clippers 105-92 to remain undefeated (6-0). Their next game is Monday night in OKC against the Orlando Magic.

[Da Coach]

Malevy Leons was temporarily assigned to the OKC Blue G-League team for an afternoon game today.
All he did was score 19 points and grab 21 rebounds (15 offensive) in his first G-League game to lead the OKC Blue to a 102-100 win over the Texas Legends. - https://x.com/OneMotiveSports/status...35247199490050

NBA beat writer for the OKC Thunder quoting the G-League OKC Blue head coach Kameron Woods - https://x.com/CAlmanza1007/status/1856422715479208285

Kam Woods on Malevy Leons: “He’s incredible. He plays so hard. He’s versatile… His ability to play harder than anybody else was pulling us, keeping us in the game.” Said he was assigned to defend their best player and was loud on the boards

[Da Coach]

A few minutes after today's OKC Blue game, the OKC Thunder recalled Malevy Leon to the NBA team - https://x.com/CAlmanza1007/status/1856433195073384541

More video of Malevy's terrific performance today - https://x.com/nbagleague/status/1856433759203086404

[yoda]

amazing - how can they NOT see this guy's talent and give him more playing time?
story- https://gleague.nba.com/game/tex-vs-...iew=game-story
Box score- https://gleague.nba.com/game/tex-vs-...view=box-score

19 pts, 21 reb, 2 assists, 2 blocks,

[Da Coach]

No Bradley fan is surprised by this - https://x.com/CAlmanza1007/status/1856426588537000291

[Tommy]

Yeah, Malevy is a perfect example of how the most talented guys aren't always the ones that make the pro rosters (Bronny James anyone?). Let's hope his hard work finally gets him recognized and someday, maybe we'll see him not just on the NBA team, but in the starting lineup! We all know what Malevy is capable of!

[BUSongwriter]

I've seen on a couple of sites this morning that the Thunder have waived Malevy. This is from a site called BVM Sports:

"The Thunder have waived forward/center Malevy Leons, the team announced. Leons, who went undrafted in June out of Bradley, initially signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Oklahoma City in September. He was waived on Oct. 19, but was re-signed to a one-year, minimum-salary deal on Oct. 31, when the Thunder cut Alex Reese. Although Leons’ contract was non-guaranteed, he’ll still be paid 17 days’ worth of salary (15 active, two on waivers). OKC will carry a dead-money cap hit for the 25-year-old, who was born in the Netherlands. More to come…..."

It's kind of surprising after his huge G-League game and positive press, including the PJS story just yesterday about how he has impressed the NBA. No mention yet of what happens next.

[Da Coach]

I've seen on a couple of sites this morning that the Thunder have waived Malevy. This is from a site called BVM Sports:

"The Thunder have waived forward/center Malevy Leons, the team announced. Leons, who went undrafted in June out of Bradley, initially signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Oklahoma City in September. He was waived on Oct. 19, but was re-signed to a one-year, minimum-salary deal on Oct. 31, when the Thunder cut Alex Reese. Although Leons’ contract was non-guaranteed, he’ll still be paid 17 days’ worth of salary (15 active, two on waivers). OKC will carry a dead-money cap hit for the 25-year-old, who was born in the Netherlands. More to come…..."

It's kind of surprising after his huge G-League game and positive press, including the PJS story just yesterday about how he has impressed the NBA. No mention yet of what happens next.

The Thunder have been playing so well with their usual rotation of players (11-2, best record in the Western Conference) that Malevy is only getting a few minutes of playing time. It might be that they want him to get more action to develop his game. That was their explanation for the one game he was "loaned" to their G-League team. After he clears waives, the OKC Thunder could re-sign him to a standard G-League contract and assign him to the OKC Blue team.

[Da Coach]

The Thunder have signed 7-foot Center Branden Carlson in place of Malevy Leons. Reports are that they felt they needed more backup at the "5" position. - https://www.oklahoman.com/story/spor...t/76360181007/

It is anticipated that Malevy "will likely return to the G League's OKC Blue."

[Big Mike]

Leons back on OKC Blue roster...