The injury-hit Thunder add Dalen Terry on a two-year deal

The Oklahoma City Thunder agreed to a two-year deal with guard-forward Dalen Terry on Tuesday, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania. NBC Sports' ProBasketballTalk also reported the signing, which brings Terry up from the Golden State Warriors' G League team in Santa Cruz.

Terry, 24, is entering his fifth NBA season. The Bulls took him 18th overall in 2022, and he has averaged 3.5 points over 218 career games. Last season he played 48 games split between Chicago and Philadelphia, averaging 3.7 points and 1.8 rebounds. He trained with the Warriors this offseason and went to their training camp last month.

Why OKC needed a body

Oklahoma City's roster has been hammered. Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace face potential season-ending surgeries, per ESPN, and Chet Holmgren will miss two-plus months with a small tear in his patellar tendon. Per ESPN Research, Oklahoma City is the first team in 50 years to have three starters get hurt in the same game.

The Thunder had agreed to bring back free agent Ochai Agbaji for the open spot, then paused those plans after the Holmgren injury on Friday so they could look at other options. Terry, a 6-foot-6 swingman, is what they landed on.

What it means

Terry won't replace Williams or Wallace, and nobody in Oklahoma City expects him to. He gives Oklahoma City another healthy wing to soak up minutes while the injured starters are out. Watch whether he cracks the rotation right away or spends his first weeks as the 15th man.