OKC Thunder 3 goals: What Olivier Sarr has to accomplish in 2023-24 season
In this continuing series, Thunder Wire assigns three goals to each of the 21 players, per Spotrac, that make up the Oklahoma City Thunder roster.
The Thunder’s season kicks off on Oct. 25 against the Chicago Bulls. After a surprising 40-42 campaign that ended a win shy of the playoffs, OKC enters this year with playoff aspirations.
Let’s assign three goals for Olivier Sarr. The 24-year-old center is entering his third consecutive season with the Thunder in some capacity. He was a late two-way addition last season and only appeared in nine games.
The Thunder brought Sarr back this offseason with a two-way deal.
Get converted to standard deal
While the odds are against for Sarr for this to happen, this should be his ultimate goal of the season. He enters his third consecutive season with the Thunder in some capacity.
Last season, he was a late two-way signing but hardly played. In his three seasons, Sarr has yet to sign a standard deal — being limited to two-way deals, 10-day deals and exhibit 10 deals.
If he can find a way to get converted, then that’ll be life-changing money for him.
Dominate G League
Just like most two-way players, Sarr will spend a ton of time with the G League’s OKC Blue. In fact, most of his playing time will be there.
As is the case with the average two-way player, he’ll need to show why his team needs to keep him in a valuable two-way slot over other candidates.
If Sarr can put up decent numbers in the G League, that should help him extend his NBA career with OKC or another destination.
Survive the season
Looking at the three two-way players on the Thunder, Sarr is the least invested in among the group. Keyontae Johnson is a second-round rookie and Lindy Waters III has shown he’s a capable rotation player at times.
Two-way slots usually have a high turnover rate. Expect that to be the case in OKC as it looks to see if it can find any hidden gems. There’s also the possibility the Thunder will leave a two-way spot open at any point of the season.
If the Thunder really like another potential two-way candidate, Sarr is the most probable to lose his deal.
