Minor Moves: Thunder, Raptors, Spurs, Kings, Mavs

The Thunder have made a series of cuts, announcing on Friday that they’ve waived guards Zhaire Smith and Anthony Pritchard, along with forward Andrew Holifield.

Smith and Holifield joined the Thunder ahead of training camp and spent the entire preseason with the club, with Smith appearing in three games while Holifield played in all five of the team’s preseason contests. Pritchard signed his Exhibit 10 contract with Oklahoma City a week into camp but still appeared in all five preseason games as well.

The expectation is that Smith, Pritchard, and Holifield will all report to the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League this fall. Based on the terms of their Exhibit 10 deals, each of those three players will earn a bonus worth $91K on top of his base NBAGL salary by spending at least 60 days with the Blue.

The Thunder now have 18 players under contract and could technically open the season with the current roster, but they probably aren’t done making roster moves — at the very least, it seems likely they’ll either waive their last camp invitee, Christoph Tilly, or convert him to a two-way contract prior to Monday’s roster cutdown deadline.

Here are a few more minor transactions from around the NBA:

• The Raptors have signed former Cincinnati guard Jalen Celestine to an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Celestine, a Canadian who went undrafted in June, played for Toronto’s Summer League team in July. He posted a 38.9% mark on three-pointers over the course of five college seasons at Cal, Baylor, and Cincinnati.
• The Spurs have waived guard Jon Elmore, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. A camp invitee who was on an Exhibit 10 contract, Elmore appeared in four preseason games this month but contributed just five points and six assists in 38 minutes of action, making 2-of-8 shots from the floor. His next stop will likely be with the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate.
• Shortly after signing him to an Exhibit 10 contract, the Kings placed center David Muoka on waivers, per NBA.com. Muoka played for the G League’s Long Island Nets last season, averaging 5.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.0 block in 17.7 minutes per game over the course of 45 outings. The Stockton Kings acquired his returning rights from Long Island in a trade earlier this month.
• After signing and waiving his twin brother Jorge Diaz Graham, the Mavericks have done the same with big man Guillermo Diaz Graham, cutting him on Friday, the team announced (Twitter link). Both brothers are expected to open the season in the G League with the Texas Legends.