JULY 20: The Thunder have announced in a press statement that the team has officially signed White. Oklahoma City waived veteran forward Rudy Gay to open up a roster spot.
JULY 1: The Thunder are signing free agent forward Jack White to a two-year contract, agent Sammy Wloszczowski tells Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).
White had been a restricted free agent after being issued a qualifying offer by the Nuggets. Based on Charania’s wording, it sounds like the Thunder are confident they won’t face resistance on the deal, whether that means Denver won’t match an offer sheet or the Nuggets are dropping the QO, making White unrestricted.
A 6’7″ forward out of Australia, White played four college seasons at Duke from 2016-20 but didn’t have a significant role. He had a bigger opportunity playing for Melbourne United of the NBL, which he used to garner NBA attention.
White played for Denver’s Summer League team last year and impressed, earning a two-way contract from the Nuggets. While he only made 17 appearances for 66 minutes in 2022/23 as a rookie for the reigning champions, he’ll get his ring and now lands a standard contract with OKC.
The 25-year-old had a strong showing for the Grand Rapids Gold (Denver’s G League affiliate) in the ’22/23 regular season, averaging 19.5 PPG, 8.9 RPG and 0.9 SPG on a .544/.409/.737 shooting line in 15 games (31.3 MPG). He was even more efficient during the fall Showcase cup, averaging 17.2 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.0 BPG and 0.9 SPG on .600/.500/.818 shooting in 12 games (32.5 MPG).
I liked this guy in summer league last year. Good player. Played hard, seemed to make the right plays and be in the right spots and competed defensively. Thought he made some good passes too, and then he stretched the floor at the 4 spot
A seven nation army couldn’t hold him back.
When he’s on he’s the hardest button to button to defend
Third man of the year contender
Damn, I had him going to Wichita.
Thunder still have 21 contracts, unless Keyontae Johnson’s 2-way isn’t official yet.