8:05pm: The transaction is official, according to a team press release.
4:39pm: The Thunder have claimed point guard Jawun Evans off waivers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
This comes as a surprising development, as the Rockets were expected to claim Evans after the two-way player was waived by the Suns on Saturday. Oklahoma City, which has tumbled to sixth in the Western Conference standings, made a preemptive strike to prevent Evans from going to Houston. The Rockets are currently third in the West.
It’s a kind of homecoming for the 22-year-old Evans, who starred at Oklahoma State. He made seven brief appearances with Phoenix this season.
Oklahoma City had a two-way opening after converting Deonte Burton‘s two-way deal to a standard contract earlier this month. Two-way players are not eligible for the playoffs.
It’s unlikely Evans will get any significant playing time with Russell Westbrook, Dennis Schroder and Raymond Felton at point guard.
Houston was looking to fill a two-way slot after promoting Danuel House to its 15-man roster.
Evans spent a good portion of this season with Northern Arizona in the G League, posting a 15.1/3.8/5.8 line in 32 games.
The Clippers waived him in October just before the start of the regular season, although he had a guaranteed $1.378MM deal.
Maybe if the Rockets wanted him, they should have kept their mouths shut. Good for the Thunder in making the preemptive strike.