First, it was Jaylin Williams, the third-year center who has been out all of Oklahoma City’s preseason with a hamstring issue. Then star offseason signing Isaiah Hartenstein suffered a fractured left hand and will be out at least the first month of the season. That left the Thunder thin along the front line.
To fill that gap, Oklahoma City will sign Alex Reese — the former Alabama big man who was in the Thunder training camp — to a non-guaranteed contract to start the season, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
In wake of Isaiah Hartenstein injury, the Oklahoma City Thunder are signing C/F Alex Reese to a non-guaranteed standard deal, agent Billy Davis told ESPN. Reese quit basketball in 2021 after 4 years at Alabama, was a bartender for a year, then played abroad and now has NBA deal. pic.twitter.com/8lNDRzCBcR
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 19, 2024
Reese, a 6’9″ four/five who played at Alabama for four years and went undrafted, was with Portland in the NBA Summer League last July, averaging 7.6 points a game on 32.4% shooting. He had seen 26 minutes of action this preseason.
Reese’s contract won’t be guaranteed until Jan. 7, he could be let go before then once Willliams and Hartenstein get hea thy. Reese gets his chance, and with the shortage of players behind Chet Holmgren he likely will get some run early in the season. He’s a great story, we’ll see what he can do with the opportunity.
